{"id":4020,"date":"2020-01-11T18:18:50","date_gmt":"2020-01-11T22:18:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=4020"},"modified":"2020-01-11T18:18:50","modified_gmt":"2020-01-11T22:18:50","slug":"another-wonderful-koala-story-from-australia-video","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=4020","title":{"rendered":"Another Wonderful Koala Story from Australia (Video)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Golden retriever surprises owner with a baby koala whose life she just saved<\/h1>\n

Published by Farah R.<\/p>\n

This dog owner from Strathdownie in Western Victoria got the surprise of her life when her Golden Retriever<\/a> brought home a new friend \u2013 a baby koala!<\/p>\n

Of all the things that Kerry McKinnon\u2019s dog, Asha, brought home, this one is by far the most unexpected.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was quite early in the morning, and my husband yelled <\/em>out to me to come have a look at something,\u201d<\/em> Kerry told News.com.au<\/a>. \u201cI didn\u2019t know what he was talking about at first, but then I saw this tiny baby koala snuggled on top of Asha.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

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Screenshot : 7NEWS Brisbane<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Temperatures in Strathdownie usually drop to 5C or 41F in the early hours. Apparently, the joey sought refuge in Asha\u2019s warm fur amidst the freezing weather outside. Kerry was completely caught off guard by the weird situation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just burst out laughing. Poor Asha didn\u2019t know what to think; she just kept looking at me with such a confused look,\u201d<\/em> Kerry recalled. \u201cShe looked a bit guilty when I came out to see what was going on. Her expression was hilarious.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

But Asha seemed to be loving her new companion\u2019s presence.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe kept looking back at the koala bear, but she wasn\u2019t trying to get him off her or anything. She was happy to let him snuggle into her,\u201d<\/em> Kerry said.<\/p>\n

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Screenshot : 7NEWS Brisbane<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Kerry and her husband never found out exactly how the koala ended up attached to Asha. But Kerry\u2019s theory is that the little marsupial got separated from its mother.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the koala bear baby fell out of his mum\u2019s pouch and didn\u2019t know what to do. He would have just wandered over to our back porch and seen the dogs in their beds, then decided to snuggle in Asha\u2019s fur because it\u2019s nice and warm,\u201d<\/em> she said.<\/p>\n

As unusual as the situation was, it was a good thing that Asha and the koala found their way to each other \u2013 the latter may have been put in grave danger if they didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

\u201cAsha definitely saved the koala\u2019s life by keeping him warm. He would have died out there if left alone all night. The poor thing could have been taken by a fox or something too,\u201d<\/em> Kerry said.<\/p>\n

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Screenshot : 7NEWS Brisbane<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When the time came to separate the two, the joey put up a \u201chuge fuss\u201d<\/em>, making it difficult for Kerry to split them apart.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think dogs have that protective instinct. The koala didn\u2019t want to leave Asha\u2019s back. When we took the koala off to wrap it in a blanket, it hissed at me and carried on,\u201d<\/em> Kerry said. \u201cI think it would have been happy to have just slept there all day. It was really an amazing animal friendship to see and so uniquely Australian.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Thankfully, the lost koala is all well. After being checked by a vet, the baby was put under the supervision of a local koala carer and would remain so until it is ready to be released back into the wild. Watch the news feature about this story below:<\/p>\n