Can this be true?

[Tamara (Homes Down Under)]

Can you really hit a Koala at 100km p/h and it survive?

 

A much lower speed maybe but i'm not too sure about this article...

 

What do you think...genuine miracle survival or stretching the truth?

 

Koala stays attached to car after surviving 100km/h hit on Adelaide’s SE Freeway

 

an hour ago

Eugene BoisvertThe Advertiser

 

 

Fauna Rescue volunteer Don Bigham with Bear Grills. Picture: DYLAN COKERA KOALA who miraculously survived being hit at 100km/h and being stuck in a car’s grille for a further 10km will be released back into the wild on Friday.

“Bear Grilles”, as he has been dubbed, received only scratches in the ordeal.

Loren Davis, 40, of Mt Barker, hit the large male on the South Eastern Freeway about 9.30pm on Tuesday.

 

She told Advertiser.com.au on Thursday she was overtaking another car near Bridgewater when she saw the koala in front of her in the right lane.

“I just thought at the last second I had no choice but to hit the koala and I was very shaken,” Ms Davis said.

“I pulled over to the left lane and stopped and looked out my window but I couldn’t see the koala.

“Other cars were going 100km/h – I wasn’t going to get out and be the next victim.”

Ms Davis then drove the rest of the way home, only discovering Bear Grilles when she looked at the front of her car to check for damage.

“I saw him there and I screamed,” she said.

She and fiance Michael Hughes then called Fauna Rescue whose volunteer Don Bigham came to collect Bear Grilles and take him to the vet.

X-rays revealed no fractures.

Mr Bigham, 76, is now looking after the koala at his home in Glengowrie.

He plans to release him at the Mt Barker Golf Course on Friday afternoon.

Ms Davis is glad he will be released far from the freeway.

“I’m thrilled (about how it has turned out),” she said.

Fauna Rescue koala rescue co-ordinator Merridy Montarello said it was a “very, very lucky koala”.

“It’s because of the particular size of it (that it survived),” Ms Montarello said.

“It’s just sat itself inside the car.”

September is Koala Awareness Month and the busiest time for koala rescuers, with koalas moving around trying to find mates.

Many koalas hit by cars are carrying joeys which can survive even if their mother does not.

Fauna Rescue is calling for electronic signs on the South-Eastern Freeway to be used to display the koala hotline number and to warn drivers when a koala rescue is taking place.

“If people know a rescue is happening, they can be more aware to slow down,” Ms Montarello said.

She wrote to Environment Minister Ian Hunter calling for the measure last month but did not hear back.

People who see a koala in danger or injured should call the Fauna Rescue hotline on 7226 0017.

[snifter]

I'm glad this one had a happy ending

[Lazy Cow]

I'm certainly no koala expert, but I do know that koalas have a cartilaginous pad, plus a thick coat, to make sitting in trees more comfortable.

 

The article says that Bear Grilles (lol !) was saved by his size, and was caught in the car's grille, so perhaps the impact was lessened by his toughened bottom ?!

 

I don't know, but I feel for the poor motorist that hit him. I would've been devastated, but her decision was probably more sensible than that of the poor woman who died a few years ago trying to miss a koala .

 

A few weeks ago, I ended up nursing a young female koala as she died. A vehicle hit her, but didn't stop. I wrapped her in a rug, then called Koala Rescue, who came out unbelievably quickly.

 

So, please, if you can help, help. This was my second encounter with a koala who needed help, and the other koala survived and did very well. It's so worth it.

 

LC

[flossybeth]

Sounds like a genuine miracle - I can't imagine anyone going slower than the speed limit...

 

Down this way people have recently started tying ribbons to hit kangaroos that have had their pouches checked which has made me think I really ought to get a little kit together to leave in the car - although I'm struggling with the squeamish-ness of it I know it's the right thing to do.