Sam (koala) - Initial Encounter

Initial Encounter

A mobile phone video of the event, which attracted just under 1,200,000 hits on YouTube, shows firefighter David Tree approaching Sam who initially attempts to flee but then stops—Tree later speculated that the koala had been thinking "I can't run, I'm weak and sore, put me out of my misery"—and Tree calls for water. Sam is then shown drinking from a bottle he is holding for her. She is also seen allowing herself to be patted, and holding her paw on his hand. Sam became a symbol of hope. It was initially thought that Sam had been rescued by Tree following the February 2009 Victorian bushfires; however, the event actually occurred in the week before the worst of the fires, during backburning operations initiated by firefighters. Tree and his crew came across Sam when they were blacking out after the fires had gone through. The video was recorded by Tree and other firefighters; it had been intended for Tree's daughter.