This is a story (eye witness account) of helping a koala that I found stuck in the river.
It was an ordinary day, with the sun setting in another hour behind the trees of the park next to the River Torrens.
A koala had made its way to this suburban district, far from the hills, and was walking adjacent to the river.
It caught sight of somebody walking along the bike track and got so spooked, it accidently jumped into the river.
It swam quickly to the river bank, but the river was so low, it had no means of climbing out of it.
Luckily some passers by noticed, and a man walked into the river and set up a branch for the koala to clomb back up and out.
This took about fifteen minutes, as the koala was swimming around, trying to figure out how to get out.
Eventually, it climbed up halfway to branch and stopped.
The man, still there, supported the branch underneath and commented its "weakness".
The koala, absolutely drenched and clearly exhausted from the swimming, caught its breath for another few minutes before climing up and out.
A passerby on the other side of the river caught the koala and wanted to take it to an animal rescue shelter.
A man on the phone to the RSPCA said they recommended to let it go, unless there was blood.
There was no blood, and the koala, now free, climbed up a gum tree into a comfy position and started to preen itself.
It was tired and needed rest.