An orphaned koala that was rescued after losing her mother in the devastated Australian bushfires received comfort from an unlikely source: a stuffed animal.
Paul Ramos, a veterinarian who has been helping animals affected by the fires, shared a video of the koala being given the toy by a women in the office, with the baby marsupial immediately latching onto the toy in a tender embrace.
In a separate video, Ramos explained the roles teddy bears play in helping the koalas recover.
"They need things like this," Ramos, who was at Mosswood Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation in Victoria, said. "Them being, like, arboreal or tree-dwelling creatures, they need to hold onto things. So when they're transported or they come out of anesthetic, they need something to hold onto. So, literally, they'll wake up with a teddy bear. So, we have these teddy bear drives.