‘Man deserves a beer’: Man goes viral after traffic escort for koala crossing highway

A kind Irishman has been praised with a tonne of “good on yas” after helping a koala across a busy Australian highway.

A kind Irishman who stopped traffic to help a koala across a busy Australian highway has been praised for the sweet gesture.

Will Thornton went viral this week after he was filmed carrying out the heroic traffic operation.

Mr Thornton is seen, barefoot, stopping traffic on a dual carriageway in Burleigh Heads as the small fury traveller crawls across the infamous busy Gold Coast Highway yesterday.

“Our Irish son-in-law escorting koala across Gold Coast Hwy in Burleigh Heads this morning,” Katrina Boyle, who posted the video to Facebook, wrote

The 39-year-old told the Courier Mail he spotted the critter while having coffee on his balcony.

A man was filmed helping a koala cross the Gold Coast Highway on Thursday. Picture: Facebook

Mr Thornton spotted the koala while having a coffee nearby. Picture: Facebook

“Myself and my wife were having a coffee on the balcony, and we noticed a koala coming out of the tree below us, and I thought it was pretty cool,” Mr Thornton said.

“He started moving towards Gold Coast Highway, I thought that would be bad, so I bolted down to help him.

“He was hellbent about getting across the road.

“He just sort of kept going so I had to try and stopped the traffic. I didn’t really know what the hell I was doing.

“I was trying to get the cars to look.”

Mr Thornton said road users were “pretty understanding” of his demands when they saw the animal he was trying to help.

“You can see in the video there’s a cyclist he had a good chuckle at me, people gave me the odd thumbs up,” the good Samaritan said.

His act has now been viewed millions of times online with the public overwhelmingly praising the man for his good work.

“Man deserves a beer – good on ya mate,” one wrote.

The koala needed to tackle four lanes of busy Gold Coast traffic. Picture: Facebook

Get the man a beer! Picture: Facebook

“Well done old mate. So refreshing to see someone helping the wildlife … especially my favourite – the Koala!” another wrote.

Conservationists said the video should serve as a reminder that suitable koala habitats are shrinking.

“Southeast Queensland is an area that has been massively impacted by clearing, largely for development and transport,” Dave Copeman from the Queensland Conservation Council told The Guardian.

“We’re at the point where we just can’t have any more clearing going on – we are destroying koala habitats,” he said.

“The really distressing reality is koalas face extinction in the wild if we don’t turn around the current trajectory. The science is clear.”

Koala breeding season generally runs from September to February, meaning the sleepy marsupial can become more active and mobile in spring and summer months.