Koala rescued from Oz bushfire dies

NEW DELHI: A koala whose dramatic rescue from a bushfire in Australia had gone viral last week has died after his wounds failed to heal, Port Marie Koala Hospital authorities said in a Facebook post.

Ellenborough Lewis, named after one of the grandchildren of the woman who saved him, had been rushed to the hospital last Wednesday.

The hospital said on Tuesday that it had no choice but to put Lewis down after his condition worsened. “Today, we made the decision to put Ellenborough Lewis to sleep,” the hospital said.

In a moving video that had earlier gone viral, his rescuer Toni Doherty is seen wrapping the badly-burnt koala in her shirt and carrying him to her car. Doherty said she was driving past an active bushfire near Port Macquarie in New South Wales when she saw the koala crying out.

IUCN Red List status: Vulnerable

Range

Resident

Resident and introduced

MAIN FEATURES

NEW SOUTH WALES Sydney CANBERRA PHASCOLARCTOS CINEREUS Weight

Adult males:

Adult females:

VICTORIA

Only found in Australia

Normally perched up in branches of eucalyptus trees

Sleep for up to 20 hours daily

POPULATION

Estimate:

Around mature individuals

Trend: Decreasing

4-14

WHAT THEY EAT

Eucalyptus leaves (about half a kg daily) Fussy eaters, they eat most of their food from a very few varieties of eucalypt kg

kg

THREATS

Deforestation and development Disease (chlamydia)

Wildfires

Climate crisis (droughts, heatwaves)