Australia is in the center of the world’s attention now, being devastated by the raging fires that keep raging throughout massive parts of its territory.

People are shocked by the disastrous effects of the flames, that have caused the death of nearly half a billion animals.

On September 8, a cute baby koala, or koala joey, has been found in New South Wales in a desperate condition, with most of its fur destroyed.

Keli, the koala, weighed less than 10 pounds then and was spotted lying abandoned on the ground.

Yet, it was rescued and brought to the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital, and months later, after its recovery, it will be returned back into the wild.

The hospital wrote on Facebook:

“Just a brighter moment – in all the tragedy in Australia at the moment we wanted to share something good.

Look at Keli today, a whopping 1 kg in weight, the fungal infection has gone and all his fur is regrowing. It’s still early days yet, we will get very excited when he makes 2.5kg.

And it’s time for him to come into the ‘dehumanizing trees ‘ in preparation for release back to the wild.

Release will not happen until the cooler months, and thankfully there is still some good habitat left in selected locations.”

The post has garnered over 30K likes and has been shared more than 8,000 times by people happy to hear such good news in the middle of the tragedy.

According to ecologists from the University of Sydney, about 480 million mammals, birds, and reptiles, including 8000 koalas, have suffered in the fires since September.

Environment minister Sussan Ley confirmed that up to 30% of the habitat of koalas has been destroyed by the bushfires, but the situation will be properly assessed after the fires calmed own. She added:

“I get mail from all around the world from people absolutely moved and amazed by our wildlife volunteer response and also by the habits of these curious creatures.”

The Port Macquarie Koala Hospital has been dedicated to saving as many koalas as possible during the crisis.

It launched a GoFundMe page titled Help Thirsty Koalas Devastated by Recent Fires, which has managed to raise over USD 1.6 million (AUD 2.3 million), which is a record in terms of funds received for an Australian entity.

Sources:
themindunleashed.com
www.facebook.com
www.dailymail.co.uk