Sydney, Australia - A koala emerged with barely a scratch after riding for kilometres with its head stuck in the grille of a car, Australian wildlife rescuers said Tuesday.
Named Ely "Lucky" Grills after his narrow escape, the eight-year-old male of the famously cute and cuddly species is now recovering from his ordeal at a wildlife refuge.
Gail Gipp of the Australian Wildlife Hospital looks at rescued koala Ely 'Lucky' Grills in Sydney, Tuesday.
Photograph by : AFP/Getty Images
"An examination showed that he was in good health and had no serious injuries," spokeswoman Carolyn Beaton of the Australian Wildlife Hospital told AFP. "It is quite miraculous."
The lucky creature was found with his bottom sticking out of the grille of a woman’s car after she pulled up at a railway station on the outskirts of the state capital Brisbane, near the popular Sunshine Coast.
Earlier, the driver had noticed a koala in the road but drove on when she failed to see anything in her rear view mirror. It was only when she stopped that station staff pointed out the koala in the grille.
He was brought to the attention of a local koala rescue group. After extracting him from the car, volunteers took him to the hospital, where vets were amazed to discover he was virtually unharmed.
The koala is being kept for treatment of an infection he was found to have, but suffered no harm from the ride other than shock.
"Somehow the force of the impact propelled him through the grille. That sort of wedged him there. That is why he didn’t come adrift. The rest of his body was dangling," Beaton said.
Hospital manager Gail Gipp said koalas were possibly at more risk from vehicles at the moment, due to the onset of their breeding season.
©Reuters 2008
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