Koalas are adorable animals who famously spend most of the day sleeping in eucalyptus trees. When they’re not sleeping, they spend their time eating eucalyptus leaves. They also get most of the moisture they need from the eucalyptus leaves, and they don’t drink much water.
But when a huge heatwave hit Australia one January, even koalas were in need of more water.
During this time, the temperatures soared to over 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Wild animals were desperate for relief from the heat.
But wild animals obviously don’t have the same access to air conditioning and misting fans to help them stay cool. Their water holes dried up during the heatwave.
The weather sparked wildfires, adding even more danger to the situation the wild animals faced. People lost electricity when overworked power grids collapsed.
A group of cyclists crazy enough to brave the intense, suffocating heat was out riding when they spied an excessively thirsty koala suffering from the intense heat.
Anna Heusler shot a video and shared it on Instagram, showing how the desperate marsupial actually climbed up the frame of her bicycle in order to better reach her water bottle and slurp some water.
“This koala walked right up to me as I was descending and climbed up onto my bike while I gave him water. Best thing to happen to me on a ride ever. There were about a dozen cyclists around me watching this and several commented that it was genuinely the best thing they’ve witnessed. What a truly wonderful experience.”
A husband and wife were pedaling along the road on an insanely hot January day. As they rounded the bend before reaching their gate to home, there sat an incredibly lethargic koala on the side of the road. It could barely hold its head up and hardly move.
The soaring temperatures had dried up nearby water sources and there weren’t enough native eucalyptus trees still standing for it to glean natural moisture from.
In the shade of the straggly trees, the man knelt down and offered water to the koala. They set up a basin and filled it with water so the koala could cool off its paws.
The poor thing gulped the cool water streaming out of the bottle. The man kept trying to entice the poor koala to dip in the old sink, but suddenly it reached out and grabbed the man’s hand as it held the water bottle.
When the cute critter had his attention, the man continued to offer it more water, but the koala wanted to show the man his gratitude and clasped ahold of his hand.
The poor koala wouldn’t let go while he chugged the refreshing and lifesaving water.
“This sweet little koala drank endlessly from a water bottle while we were doing our best to encourage it to move toward the sink we provided so it could cool its paws in the water.”
We’re so glad this man was there to help this koala, and we’re sure he’ll never forget the thank you that he received.
Check out the ‘thank you’ in the video below!
