And sometimes there are things that restore your faith in people

[Matilda]

The koala, named Lewis, is being treated at a koala hospital, but has been severely burned on his feet, and it's still not certain if he'll survive. But he and his rescuer have become a symbol for people who were in despair at our politicians' denial of climate change and their failure to act.

What a courageous and quick-thinking woman; she deserves an award. And I think everyone is saying little prayers for Lewis, just one of hundreds of injured bush creatures.

[pnwest]

1. Oh God!!! Trigger warning, please! His

cries broke my heart, brought me instantly to sobbing tears. That poor babyyy. Those cries were so pitiful, I hope they can ease his pain, I hope he makes it

ETA: srsly, 10 minutes later those pitiful cries are still echoing in my ears.

[Matilda]

2. He is alive,

and has been eating some eucalyptus leaves, although they say he's not out of danger yet.

It's likely that he will be in the hospital for a long time and may not be able to be released back into the wild, because he will become too tame.

[IndyOp]

3. This does not restore faith in people - it condemns us all

A screaming crying koala racing to escape a forest we set on fire does not restore my faith in humanity - it does the exact opposite.

Stories like this reassure us we are good - we are not. We have to stop sharing children’s just-so stories - feel-good fantasy will speed the way to mass extinctions - each with its own type of horror like a koala running from the forest screaming, crying, on fire.

[Matilda]

4. Not so.

A courageous woman plunged into a fire to save a helpless animal. And hundreds of Australians this week have donated over $1,500,000 to animal hospitals to help them care for injured bush creatures - and those are just the figures I know about.

With the election of climate change-deniers to both the federal government and our state government in NSW, and seeing the result in the horrendous bushfires in what is still Spring here, I could only feel despair at the short-sightedness and selfishness of my countrymen, who voted these charlatans in.

But now I know there are decent, caring people out there who are trying to make a difference, and I know there may be some hope for us yet, if we just don't lack the courage to keep fighting.

[IndyOp]

5. Your information does increase my hope...

The story about one koala being saved is not the same, IMHO. It is easy to root for Louie and feel good about oneself but that is weak tea. Your info is different $1.5 million is more on the scale needed.

[Matilda]

6. I'm sure most of us recognise that people react to these situations emotionally,

and the danger is people forgetting about it down the track, when in fact it's all going to get worse. It's not even Summer yet, and we have a useless government that has its collective head firmly buried in the sand and will not act in any way to help - no planning for a hotter future, and not even any plans to get water to the firefighters. PM Morrison prefers giving Trump hundreds of millions of dollars to get to Mars rather than directing it to buying planes to water-bomb the fires.

And MSM aren't reporting on climate change, given that about 80% of our media is now controlled by Murdoch, so it's going to be up to social media to keep beating the drum.

But this week has proven there are people who care and are moved enough to try to help. That's all anyone can ask in the absence of government action.

[Matilda]

7. Poor little Lewis has died.

His injuries were too bad and causing great pain, and he had to be euthanised.

I hope he’ll become a symbol of the fight we need to undertake against vested interests, to save these beautiful and unique creatures for the future.

[CBHagman]

8. I was reading something the other day about efforts...

...to maintain the koala population. I forget the precise term used, but the point was to address threats to the koalas and allow them to breed. I'll look for the article.

On edit: Found it. This report aired on the PBS NewsHour, the nightly program on public television.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/australias-efforts-to-bring-koalas-back-from-the-brink-of-extinction

[Matilda]

9. Thank you for that.

It's in line with what I've been reading. Their habitat in NSW has been seriously eroded over the past five years or so, and dramatically increased over the past two years. The Premier, a ghastly woman by the name of Gladys Berejiklian, has continually ignored the advice of her own Environmental Department and given loggers permission to go in and just obliterate all the trees in areas all over northern NSW. That's where the bushfires now are, so the fires are finishing the job started by Gladys (aka #koalakiller on Twitter). The saddest photo I've ever seen was a koala and her joey sitting on a log on the ground that had obviously once been their home.

But if the story of little Lewis did one thing, it's really alerted caring people to what's been going on, and they are donating in the hundreds of thousands of dollars for the care and future upkeep of koalas, and it's still flowing in. The Koala Hospital in Port Macquarie, where Lewis was taken, has now received just under $2,000,000, and with the help of Taronga Zoo, they can start a breeding program of their own. It's still going to be a huge battle, but at least people are now paying attention.

Pity we don't have a leader who accepts climate change, but maybe, just maybe, there are things people can do by themselves.

[CBHagman]

10. I just paid a visit on Twitter and looked up the hashtag...

...and this is something people in the United States really need to understand. I will be sure to share something on my social media accounts.