In a heartbreaking video captured by an Australian animal group, a baby koala is being rescued from his dead mother’s pouch.
The baby koala survived after his mother was hit by a car on June 17 at 3 a.m.
The driver reported the incident immediately, Port Stephens Koalas, a local rescue group in New South Wales, Australia says.
“Unfortunately the mother died instantly from head trauma,” Julie Jennings told Global News.
With no time to spare, the Port Stephens Koalas team placed the dead mother in a laundry basket and attempted to gently push the joey out of his once-secure home.
The baby koala, which weighed less than a pound, was named Morton.
“Morton is about five to six months old, which sounds a lot but you have to bear in mind joeys are born early as ‘pinkies’ and climb into the pouch to continue their development. He would have stayed with mom taking milk for a year before he would leave her,” Jennings said.
So far, Morton is doing great but the chance of survival that young is small, Jennings added. “As each day goes by his chances of survival increase.”
Although it’s been a rough start to life, the rescue team says Morton is under constant care in the hopes of being able to release him into the wild when he is ready.
“Not knowing if he sustained any injuries we have been caring for him for three days and we are pleased to say he is doing brilliantly and is adjusting to his new life with his foster mom.”
Save the Koala lists loss of habitat and cars as the main threats to koalas.
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