Mother and baby possum hide in police car in Charmhaven bushfire
A possum and her tiny baby have been saved after they hid inside a Highway Patrol police car as bushfires raged only metres away on the state’s Central Coast. SEE THE AMAZING PICTURES HERE.
Central Coast
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A possum and her baby sought refuge underneath a Highway Patrol police car as raging bushfires tore through the NSW Central Coast on New Year’s Eve.
The police car was parked beside out-of-control bushfires at Charmhaven when the possum crawled under the car with her tiny baby on her back.
The frightened pair then wound up in the car’s suspension as firefighters continued to attack the blaze only metres away.
Volunteer firefighter Jordan Kolarik and a police officer joined forces to retrieve the possums from the car suspension, with Mr Kolarik extracting the mother first and cradling the distressed animal with his gloves.
A masked police officer then retrieved the baby – which was only the size of his palm – as Mr Kolarik soothed its mother sitting inside his helmet.
“This little fella and its baby was stuck under a HWP car,” Mr Kolarik tweeted.
“My copper mate and I managed to get her out. It's the small wins that matter.”
The baby possum clung to the police officer’s fingers for comfort before crawling up his arm and onto his shoulder after drinking water from a bottle cap supplied by a paramedic at the scene.
Emergency services have told Central Coast residents to seek shelter as southerly winds push the emergency-level Charmhaven bushfire towards Blue Haven.
In a separate incident highway patrol officers in the state’s Illawarra region retrieved a baby wallaby from a travelling circus.
Police attended a travelling carnival in Windang, south of Wollongong on December 30 after reports a young wallaby joey was in distress.
Officers spoke to carnival employees who informed them the joey’s mother had been hit and killed by a car in the Northern Territory when they rescued it.
“Police took the animal and handed care of it to WIRES,” police said on Facebook.
“The joey is to undergo veterinary examination in the coming days and is likely to be rehomed into a nearby nature sanctuary.”
During horrific bushfires on the state’s South Coast, valiant zookeepers heroically saved the world-famous Mogo Zoo after it was ringed by fire.
Mogo Zoo, 10 minutes outside of Bega, is home to Australia’s largest collection of primates as well as giraffes, zebras, cheetahs and snow leopards.
Featherdale director of life sciences Chad Staples said staff fought flames and spot fires inside the zoo for more than three hours.
“We had staff in every corner making sure everyone and every animal was safe,” Mr Staples told The Daily Telegraph.
“It was hell. You can still see the flames just across from us.”
If you find a sick, injured or orphaned native animal in NSW, call the WIRES Rescue Office on 1300 094 737 for rescue help and advice.