Lewis The Koala Rescued By Woman In Famous Video Of Wildfire Has Died Of His Injuries

Nov 26, 2019 by apost team

Lewis, the koala who was rescued from Australian wildfires by a woman in a now-famous video, has sadly succumbed to his injuries.

The video of his rescue made its way around the world as a brave passerby plucked him from the burning trees of the recent devastating bushfires in New South Wales. Toni Doherty was in the area when she saw a koala trying to cross the road, its body surrounded by the flames from the bushfires.

"I knew I needed to put something around him as I ran to the tree, so I just took off my shirt and covered him with it. I just tried to get him out of the fire, it was so hot and so frightening," Toni told 9News.

The video shows that she risked her own life of being so close to the flames in order to save the crying creature, but she told the news network that she knew that she just had to get him out as quickly as possible.

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Lewis was then rushed to the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital where staff gave him oxygen and treated his injuries. He was estimated to be about 14 years old according to reporter Lizzie Pearl who was on the scene, and had very serious burns on this body. The little guy was eating and seemingly better but unfortunately the hospital announced today that he passed away.

The hospital posted on social media that after doing everything they could for him, “Ellenborough Lewis” had to be put down. His burns were not getting better and they knew it would be further suffering for the poor thing. They wrote, “The Koala Hospital's number one goal is animal welfare, so it was on those grounds that this decision was made.”

Cheyne Flanagan, the clinical director of the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital told The New York Times that “We have these unique animals not found anywhere else on this planet, and we’re killing them. This is a big wake-up call.”

The newspaper reports that while caretakers are treating koalas for their injuries and rescuing them from the flames as best as they can, the wildfire threat to their habitat is incredibly strong. One estimate says that 350 of the 700 koalas in the region have been killed, but the rescue efforts continue on. The New York Times also confirms that koalas are not "functionally extinct" as has been reported.

Rest in peace to Lewis. Do you agree that the devastation of the fires is a big wake-up call? What can be done to help the koalas? Let us know in the comments below.