Snake catcher saves koala clinging on lamppost

While driving home after a full day of snake catching, Ozzie Lawrence came across something unusual in the middle of the road. Clinging to a lamppost was a young koala.

“The koala was quite calm as I’m sure it wasn’t aware of all the potential danger it was in,” Lawrence, of OzCapture Snake Relocations, told Newsweek. He slammed on his brakes and swung his car around to help the two locals already working to coax the koala away from the road in Logan Village, Queensland, Australia. “It’s rare that I see koalas on the side of road, but other marsupials, mammals and reptiles are commonly seen,” Lawrence said. “Sadly, many are victims of roadkill.”

Koalas can be found over a range of open forest and woodland in Eastern Australia. Their diet mostly consists of leaves from eucalypt trees, which are fairly low-energy and contain toxic compounds that most animals cannot ingest. Koalas are able to break these down, but this uses up a lot of their energy. So they can sleep for up to 20 hours a day and are most active at night and around dawn and dusk.

Unfortunately, across Australia, areas of eucalypt forest are being chopped down to make space for residential and commercial development. Those that remain are often broken up by roads and railways. Koalas are also vulnerable to droughts and extreme heat, both of which are increasing across Australia. The marsupial is now classed as being vulnerable to extinction by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

Shortly after Lawrence pulled over, the koala began to stroll across the double lanes. The snake catcher, his daughter Aaliyah, and the two locals all worked to slow down the northbound traffic to ensure the animal’s safe passage.

“Together, [we] helped guide him off that road into a big property away from potential harm or worse,” Lawrence said. “Certainly was great also to see a koala in great health.”

Lawrence said that conservation efforts in the area had been successful at spreading awareness in the area about these vulnerable marsupials.

Dozens of Facebook users were quick to congratulate the team for the rescue efforts.

“Great work….You are becoming an animal wrangler of all sorts….thanks for looking after the ‘locals,'” wrote one user.

“Great work by all. It’s just sad that their homes are getting knocked over because of development. Poor guys have really nowhere to go soon,” posted another.

Lawrence too had some advice for anyone driving through animal-frequented areas: “Keep an eye out for our wildlife trying to cross busy roads and streets,” he said. “Always report sick or injured animals asap [as soon as possible] to your local wildlife rescue organisations.”