Updated January 2nd, 2019 at 13:19 IST

This viral video of thirsty Koala drinking water from a bottle will melt your heart

In a heartwarming video which has gone viral on the internet, a woman is seen feeding a really thirsty Koala a bottle of water.

Reported by: Apoorva Rao
| Image:self
Advertisement

In a heartwarming video which has gone viral on the internet, a woman is seen feeding a really thirsty Koala a bottle of water.

A Koala bear which was climbing up a tree, stopped when a woman approached it. The woman was holding a bottle of water and and brought it close to the Koala. The Koala immediately came forward as though it wanted to be fed water.

The video has been taken in Victoria in Australia. The woman seen in the video is Chantelle Lowrie and is a local and was camping on at a ground near Murray River.

The vast continent has experienced intense heat over the past week, with the mercury up 16 degrees Celsius (60 degrees Fahrenheit) higher than usual for this time of year in southern Australia.

READ: Delhi Dresses Up Street Dogs In Sweaters To Keep Them Warm In This Frosty Weather

Numerous towns set new December records, according to the Bureau of Meteorology, while emergency services have been on high alert for bushfires.

"It was 44 degrees Celsius - very, very hot day," Lowrie told AFP on Tuesday.

"I stopped because he looked as though he could use a drink of water." Lowrie posted on Facebook footage of herself giving water to the furry marsupial, who drank from the bottle before climbing back up the tree.

Watch the video here.

The footage is reminiscent of another video of a koala, later nicknamed Sam, who drank from a bottle offered by a firefighter during deadly bushfires in Victoria in 2009.

High temperatures are not unusual in the Australian summer, with bushfires a common occurrence.

READ: Dog That Survived California Wildfire Guarded Home For Weeks

Major cities across the country are also affected, with the thermometer pushing towards 40 degree Celsius and the heat set to linger into the new year.

In Sydney, thousands of people flocked to beaches to cool down, while the state's health service issued a warning for poor quality air as ozone levels rise with the hot weather.

"This is all because of a high-pressure system coming off the Tasman sea that is slow moving and has set up a pattern over several days," Bureau of Meteorology duty forecaster Nick Neynens told Fairfax Media. "It's a very stable situation with not a lot changing, meaning everywhere is pretty much going to be hot and we don't see a strong change coming yet." 

Emergency services have issued fire bans and warnings and called on people to stay out of the extreme heat.

A southerly wind change will start to bring cooler wind conditions in southern Australia that gradually extend inland into South Australia and Victoria state before weakening, the weather bureau's meteorologist Sarah Fitton said Friday.

(With PTI inputs)

Advertisement

Published January 2nd, 2019 at 13:05 IST