Woman rescues baby koala from grips of python in Brisbane

Woman rescues koala joey from hungry python in Whites Hill Reserve in Brisbane A Brisbane wildlife rescuer has saved a baby koala from the deadly grip of a python after coming across the pair while out for a bushwalk. Nell was walking her dog in Whites Hill Reserve at Camp Hill, when she heard a commotion, about 15 metres off the footpath. "I heard a lot of birds, so I ran over and that's when I saw the joey look me dead in the eyes panicked and the mum was scratching at a python as she tried to get it off her baby." "She was really distressed," she said. That's when Nell jumped into action and scooped up the joey, before she started to unravel the snake. "I didn't know if the baby was breathing or had broken ribs or anything in that moment, I just picked it up and started unravelling," Nell said. "It all happened so quickly … and all of a sudden I've got the snake in one hand and then the joey clutching onto my left shoulder crying." The rescuer said a man walking nearby stopped to offer his help but was not thrilled when she tried to hand over the snake. She said she asked him to hold the snake, but he very quickly said no and offered to hold her dog instead. Nell said she put the snake into a small tree while she checked the freed joey for injuries before reuniting it with mum who had stayed close by throughout the ordeal. "I made sure its limbs were moving correctly and that it was breathing ok … then I walked up to the tree that its mum was in and it went straight up to her." "I then walked with the snake wrapped around my arm until I felt it was far enough that it wasn't going to come back and do the same thing," she said. Nell said the python was about a metre-and-a-half in length and believes it would have killed the baby koala but not been able to swallow it. "I came back about an hour or two later and saw the mum and her baby cuddling and they looked so happy." "That was the best feeling in the world … the snake was fine and can find a smaller meal somewhere else." Nell said she wanted to post the video to create more awareness about the endangered species and the challenges they face.