A Queensland woman has gone viral after sharing a clip of her saving a distressed baby koala from a python’s grip.
Nell was walking her dog in the bush when she came across the baby koala with a python coiled around it, as its mother desperately tried to free it.
“Poor mum was clawing at the python, trying to set her baby free. The joey looked straight at me, and I just saw the panic in its face,” Nell told news.com.au.
“I didn’t really think in that moment; I just threw my phone on the ground and started separating the two. I didn’t know how long it was constricted for, and there’s a short window to act before a python can cause injuries such as broken bones, organ damage or lack of oxygen.”
Nell had tied her dog to her as she untangled the python, safely separating the two and reuniting the baby with its panicked mother.
“I’m glad it was a happy ending; seeing Joey and Mum cuddling was pure bliss,” she recalled.
The python was also unharmed, with Nell saying: “He is not the villain; he was just an opportunist in a fragmented environment.”
Nell shared the footage in hopes of raising conservation awareness, a cause which she is passionate about.
“Conservation of all native species is important to me. I have seen so much trauma in wildlife and destruction of their habitat in my many years of working with native animals; it’s something you don’t forget,” she explained.
“The government not only doesn’t do enough to protect them, but also contributes to it. Australia has the highest extinction rate in the world. It’s up to us to do something about it before we lose any more species.”
The video racked up millions of views on Instagram, and while many praised her rescue efforts, others questioned whether she was intervening with nature.
However, Nell thought otherwise, saying: “The python was capable of killing the koala, but much too small to actually ingest it. I think it was opportunistic and over-estimated its potential meal.”
“Pythons can survive weeks or even months without a meal, and there is plenty of other food sources available to him that are more appropriately sized,” she continued.
Nell also said that she only wanted to help a species that is already vulnerable and facing other challenges including habitat destruction, bush fires and more.
“They already face so many other challenges that make their species vulnerable,” she said.
“They all stem from habitat destruction. It leads to them crossing roads and getting hit, being displaced in urban environments, being prone to predation, lacking food sources as they have a specialised diet that can’t be supplemented; they face bushfires, disease, displacement and so much more.”
She hopes that her video will encourage people to volunteer in the koala conservation efforts.
Images: Instagram
