The koala heroically saved from the fire died: the burns reported by Lewis were too serious and the vets decided to put him to sleep
The burns reported by Lewis were too severe and showed no signs of improving: the koala was in too much pain, the vets decided to put him to sleep.
We all still have in our eyes the images of the harrowing video of his heroic rescue in which a woman named Toni Doherty threw herself into the flames to save the koala from certain death, freshened it with water and wrapped it in her shirt, while the the animal screamed in pain.
The koala, renamed Lewis in honor of his rescuer's grandson, was then transported to the veterinary hospital in Port Macquarie, which specializes in treating koalas.
The vets went out of their way to treat Lewis' severe burns and it seemed the animal was slowly recovering.
During a medication, however, the doctors realized that there was nothing more for Lewis to do: burns got worse, there was no hope of recovery and the koala was in too much pain.
The doctors at Port Macquarie hospital therefore had to make the terrible decision to put Lewis to sleep forever.
"Our number one goal is animal welfare, which is why we made this decision," said Port Macquarie Koala Hospital.
The members of the hospital they are doing everything to save the lives of koalas, recovering them from the flames and offering them adequate care.
The hospital also organized a fundraiser for buy drinking troughs to be placed in Australian woodland areas affected by the fires and for build a shelter for the rehabilitation of rescued koalas.
Unfortunately, it is estimated that around 1000 koalas lost their lives in fires and that 80% of their habitat was destroyed, leading to the functional extinction of these animals.
Read also:
- Australia: the moving video of a koala being rescued after the fires
- Koalas and marsupials injured in the fires, to help them, small bags are sewn by hand to contain them
- Hundreds of koalas have likely died in the fires in Australia
