Not Just Humans, Heroic Dogs Are Saving Injured Koalas From Australian Bushfires

Humans are making all possible efforts to save koalas. Remember that lady who saved a koala from bushfires? The video of her heroic save went viral on social media.?

Not too far is man’s best friend – dog – who are also doing their bit to save the marsupial native to Australia.

A dog put up for adoption because it was behaving per a “good pet” handbook, was retrained to save koalas from Australia’s bushfires. Not just him, there are several other dogs who are doing their bit.

In the last couple of weeks wildfires have spread across New South Wales, Queensland and the Sunshine Coast causing the deaths of at least three people and the destruction of 150 homes.

An estimated 350 koalas were killed last month when a rampant blaze tore through a wildlife sanctuary. Typically, a koala’s mechanism is to climb to the top of the tree, curl up in ball and wait for the fire to pass. However, in this case, the strategy is ineffective as the fire is massive.

Bear looking for injured koalas

This has put koalas at risk.

A dog named Bear is on a mission to rescue koalas from Australia’s bushfires, which have burned millions of acres of land over the past few weeks.

He has been roaming burned areas, on the lookout for any koala survivors. Bear works with his handler Rianna to sniff out any evidence of koalas still in the area.

“With winds up to 30km, the conditions were not ideal for Bear’s tracking, but he indicated possible koalas at a number of spots,” the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) said in a blog post. “Thanks to Bear’s work, we know that there are live koalas in the area and we will continue to search to rescue any koalas who need our help.”

Bear is part of a specialised and trained pack of dogs who work for koala protection.

Normally, dogs sniff out koalas in less dangerous regions but this year, Bear was sent into more dangerous circumstances.

Bear was given a pair of heat-resistant booties and sent into the charred land. Bear has not yet found any live koalas, but he has efficiently alerted search party members that there were still koalas alive in the region, said a report by Travel and Leisure.

Another dog, a Springer Spaniel named Taylor, has also assisted in koala relief efforts. She found eight koalas in the burned fields of Port Macquarie.