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Rescued koalas Bob (top) and Sam cuddle as they recover from their burns - Source: Reuters -
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A love story between two badly burned koalas rescued from
Australia's deadliest bushfires has provided some heart-warming
relief after days of devastation and the loss of over 180
lives.
The story of Sam and her new boyfriend Bob emerged after volunteer
firefighter Dave Tree used a mobile phone to film the rescue of the
bewildered female found cowering in a burned out forest at Mirboo
North, 150 km southeast of Melbourne.
Photos and a video of Tree, 44, approaching Sam while talking
gently to her, and feeding her water from a plastic bottle as she
put her burned claw in his cold, wet hand quickly hit video sharing
website
You Tube
, making
her an Internet sensation.
But it was after reaching a wildlife shelter that Sam met and
befriended Bob, who was saved by wildlife workers on Friday, two
days before Sam, in Boolarra, about 180 km from Melbourne.
Tree, who has been a volunteer firefighter for 26 years, said it
was extremely rare to get so close to a koala so he asked his
colleague Brayden Groen, 20, to film him.
"You can how she stops and moves forward and looks at me. It was
like a look saying "I can't run, I'm weak and sore, put me out of
my misery"," Tree told Reuters.
"I yelled out for some water and I sat down with her and tipped the
water up. It was in my hand and she reached for the bottle then put
her right claw into my left hand which was cold so it must have
given her some pain relief and she just left it there. It was just
amazing."
Inspiring love story
Sam was taken to the Southern Ash Wildlife Shelter in Rawson. Her
story was reminiscent of a koala named Lucky who survived the 2003
bushfires that destroyed about 500 homes and killed four people in
the capital of Canberra. Lucky became a symbol of hope.
Colleen Wood from the Southern Ash Wildlife Shelter that is caring
for Sam and Bob said both koalas were doing well while other
animals like possums, kangaroos, and wallabies were also starting
to emerge from the debris.
She said Sam had suffered second degree burns to her paws and would
take seven to eight months to recover while Bob had three burned
paws with third degree burns and should be well enough to return to
the bush in about four months.
"They keep putting their arms around each other and giving each
other hugs. They really have made friends and it is quite beautiful
to see after all this. It's been horrific," said Wood.
"Sam is probably aged between two to four going by her teeth and
Bob is about four so they have a muchness with each other."
Wood said about 20 koalas had been brought into her shelter in
recent days, several of whom had bonded as koalas are known to
clump together, but none had garnered the same attention as the new
Internet star Sam.
Tree, a volunteer with the Country Fire Authority Victoria, has
visited Sam since her rescue and was delighted to see she had found
a boyfriend in Bob.
"They've really taken a shine to each other as they are both burnt
and share the same burnt smell," he said.
"My heart goes out to the people in these fires and this was so
innocent so people have used this to distract them from all the sad
stuff that has gone on. It gives people a bit of hope."
Click here to find out how you can donate to
the victims of the Australian bushfires.
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