He didn’t have money for the bus fare — but in an act of kindness and compassion, this furry passenger was welcomed aboard regardless.
Last Saturday night, a bus driver in Brisbane, Australia, spotted a lone koala dashing across a busy road. Lucky to have not been hit by a car, the frightened animal then climbed up a roadside lamppost for safety.
Thankfully, the bus driver decided to stop and offer him a free ride.
“Worried the koala might climb down and run into the path of a car, [the driver] used a light jacket to cover its head before moving it onto the bus,” Koala Rescue Brisbane South wrote in a post.
Now out of harm’s way and aboard the bus, the scared koala could finally breathe a little easier.
Members of Koala Rescue Brisbane South were alerted to the situation, and the little animal was soon on the way to get the help he needed.
And as footage of the incident shows, his last stop was a much more fitting spot for a koala than where his journey had begun:
The koala, who was named Peri, was given a clean bill of health.
And the following day, he was released to live freely in a protected bushland reserve.
Koala populations have been in decline due to factors like habitat loss, all too often forcing them into too-close contact with human infrastructure. Fortunately, in this case, human kindness — on the part of both the bus driver and Koala Rescue Brisbane South — prevailed in preserving his life and ensuring his protection.