koalas

Heartbreaking news from Australia: a year-long New South Wales parliamentary inquiry revealed that without urgent intervention, koalas will likely be extinct in parts of Australia before 2050. The investigation found that "loss of habitat, fragmented populations, and fire" have been major threats to koalas.

This little boy is a hero. 

When Owen, a six-year-old boy living in Massachusetts, heard about the devastating fires of Australia, earlier this year, he not only wanted to help the animals -- he actually did something about it. 

It all started with a drawing he did of a kangaroo, dingo, and koala in the rain. This drawing was Owen's wish for a storm to come and stop the fire, thus saving the animals. When his mom asked him if he wanted to help in some way, Owen didn't hesitate and came up with an idea of creating clay koalas in order to save the real ones! 

Owen and his mom began to make little koalas to give out for every donation they received. The response was tremendous and the family started a GoFundMe page. So far, Owen and his family have raised over $100,000 and donated it all to the wildlife rescue organization called Wildlife Rescue South Coast. 

Read more about Owen's Little Koala's.

Both heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time. 

Three Snowy Mountain Koalas, who were rescued from the Australia wildfire crisis, have been named after American firefighters who were tragically killed in the region. 

Two Thumbs Wildlife Trust Koala Sanctuary have named the koalas, and the trio are now in the temporary care of Australian National University (ANU).

Dr Karen Ford, an ANU researcher and who is running the makeshift hospital at ANU, said in a university statement, "We have 11 koalas at ANU that have come in from the various fire grounds in the region.They just keep arriving. There is nowhere else that has the facilities to hold these animals or this many at the moment."

Ford also mentioned that a couple of the koalas are being treated for burns, while the others are "quite skinny" from malnutrition, due to their habitats being completely burnt. 

Koalas are known to breed so slowly that it could take 100 years for the population to rebuild — so saving just one is crucial. That is why the koalas have been a central focus of relief efforts as the blaze spreads across the region.

Story via CBS News

Art can be extremely powerful, in sending a message to the world.

Artists from all over the world have united in spreading awareness of devastating fires in Australia, and with their art reaching thousands, are able to not only spread awareness but to also help bring in even more donations. 

Thank you to all the artists for expressing their pain in a way that contributes. 

Two Aussie teens, 19-year-old Micah and 18-year-old Caleb, have been named heroes for driving around and loading up their car with injured koalas, in Kangaroo Island. 

Storyful reported that the teens delivered the koalas to their neighbor, who has a permit to care for wildlife.

Micah Lovegrove, one of the heroic teens, decided to go on this impromptu rescue mission after witnessing a koala with nowhere to go, when his uncle's property burned down. 

In a video first posted on Reddit, you can see a car filled with poor, exhausted koalas. And in the background, an eerie sight of a road that is lined by blackened trees. 

Unsure of how many koalas they rescued, they assume it's around 20 and of that 20, six of the poor marsupials were orphaned and two of them were mothers with children.

Still, that's 20 more koalas saved. And we're beyond thankful to both Micah and Caleb. 

It is very important to mention that these koalas from Kangaroo Island were not taken to the mainland where they could be affected by Chlamydia and therefore unable to return back to their home on the Island. 

Chlamydia in koalas can cause blindness, bladder inflammation, infertility and death. As the island's koalas are isolated and free of the disease, its introduction would devastate the population.

"It's understandable and heartening that people want to rescue these animals, but unfortunately it will mean that those koalas can't be returned to the island because of the risk of contamination of the population there," said Brenton Grear, Department for Environment and Water bushfire recovery coordinator.

If anyone out there reads this and decided to drive and rescue koalas -- do not take them to the main land. "We ask that anyone on Kangaroo Island who finds injured wildlife call SAVEM on 0477 055 233 or email info@savem.org.au," says Grear.

Story via LADBible

Meet the goodest boy we know of right now -- Bear! 

Bear is a koala detection dog. That is his job. And since the fires started raging in Australia this past September, Bear has been hard at work scouring the Earth for koalas. 

Bear is a blue-eyed border collie/koolie mix who works with the University of Sunshine Coast (USC) Detection Dogs for Conservation. Bears job is to sniff out sick, orphaned and injured koalas across New South Wales and Queensland (both of which had taken on the fires rampage the hardest). 

According to the USC site, Bear was rescued from a shelter and has an endless supply of energy, an obsessive nature, and is completely uninterested in humans -- which turns out doesn't make for a great pet, but they're the exact qualities he needs to locate and track koalas. (Sometimes he looks for other marsupials, like the endangered Northern quoll.) 

USC Detection Dogs for Conservation Senior Research Dr. Celine Frere said in a news release, "Bear is highly focused and brilliant at focusing on one thing – his ball which is his reward, which makes him perfectly suited for the job. He also has zero prey drive which is essential for a wildlife detection dog as they need to focus purely on the scent and not the animal, ultimately ignoring the animal."

Bear was trained by USC academic and also works in partnership with the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW).

Story via Mother Nature Network

It's hard to share such devastating news. 

It has been reported that nearly 500 million animals have perished since the start of the raging fires. 

500 million. That's half a billion. 

According to the University of Sydney, ecologists now estimate 480 million mammals, birds and reptiles have tragically been lost since September. 

Entire species of plants and animals are endangered of being completely wiped out. 

If you're unsure just how insanely large this fire really is, The Guardian has published an interactive map stating the scale of the fire is 1.5 times the size of Belgium, just to give some perspective. 

We pray this horror ends soon without any more damage to the wildlife. 

Story via NZHerald

#cutecats 

I think we can all admit we are impressed by these animals. If watching movie bloopers tells us anything, doing any activity in sync with one or more people is a headache and a half. All the more reason to appreciate these talented pets for just having a knack for it. Maybe there is some sort of hypnosis involved, but either way its a pretty neat trick.

Want to get yourself in sync this week? Release some of that nervous energy with some laughs at these hilarious huskies. Or maybe these completely shocked cats, but either way, the result will be laughter, we guarantee it. 

Little Louise fell out of a tree during a storm in Australia and then her mother rejected her. Luckily some very nice people found the baby koala and took care of her. The tiny cutie immediately caught the attention of The Daily Telegraph who shared her story and took these fabulous photos. You can follow Louise's journey over on the HKPS Koala Rescue Facebook page.