British TV presenter Bear Grylls has a knack for getting into hairy situations and surviving with barely a scratch. A koala in Australia must have taken some tips from the survivalist, because he was hit by a car and survived.
In recognition of his survival skills, the creature has been named Bear Grylls.
It all happened Tuesday, when Loren Davis was driving on the expressway in Adelaide, going along at about 62 mph, BBC explained. And Bear Grylls crossed the road.
Koalas aren’t known for their smarts, animal rescuer Don Bigham said, and seem unconcerned about traffic and the danger it might pose.
“They walk down the middle of the road, [even] sit on roads,” he told ABC Australia.
Bear Grylls chose a bad spot to cross — the roadway was dark, with no streetlights, and the traffic was so thick there was no way for Davis to avoid hitting him.
“I didn’t see … until my headlights found it but I couldn’t change lanes because another car was there [on the inside lane]. I slammed my brakes on but another (one) was behind me, so there was no choice but to hit the koala.”
She pulled over to check on the animal, but couldn’t see a thing in the dark. So she drove home, thinking she’d killed a living thing. When she got home, she pulled into her garage, flicked on the light, and checked on the damage.
ICYMI: Koala ‘Bear Grylls’ survives 100kph impact with car, wedged above vehicle’s bumper http://t.co/Jab4P0QoWE pic.twitter.com/h3sjVNa0Yg
— ABC News (@abcnews) September 24, 2015
And she screamed. It was wedged in the vehicle’s front grill; she called to her fiancé and his son for help.
“When they called out and said, ‘he’s alive’, I was teary, thinking of this poor koala in the front of the car.”
Naturally, the animal was scared and growled each time Davis or her fiancé approached. They pushed a blanket under its arm and with that, it was able to push itself out of the grill.
“We … closed the garage door to let him rest in there,” she said. “We didn’t want him to wander off until we’d seen he was okay.”
Animal rescue came by and picked up the koala to give it some much-needed medical care, but he only suffered minor abrasions. For now, Bear Grylls will remain with volunteers — who say he’s “very, very lucky” — until he’s better.
This is the second time a koala was found wedged in a car grill by a surprised driver. Three weeks ago, another got stuck head-first, also in Adelaide. He survived, too. Perhaps the real Bear Grylls ought to start taking survival tips from the lucky little creatures.
[Photo Courtesy plavevski / Shutterstock]
