Sam (2005–2007 – 6 August 2009), also known as Sam the Koala, was a female
koala
The koala or, inaccurately, koala bear (''Phascolarctos cinereus''), is an arboreal herbivorous marsupial native to Australia. It is the only extant representative of the family Phascolarctidae and its closest living relatives are the ...
from the forests of
Mirboo North
Mirboo North is a town in Victoria, Australia, located east of Melbourne, with a population of 1,697. It is in the South Gippsland Shire local government area.
The town is at the start of the Grand Ridge Rail Trail, which travels for 13 ...
, Victoria,
Australia. She became publicly known when a video and photographs of her being rescued by a
firefighter were distributed on the internet and through the media during the aftermath of the
Black Saturday bushfires
The Black Saturday bushfires were a series of bushfires that either ignited or were already burning across the Australian state of Victoria on and around Saturday, 7 February 2009, and were among Australia's all-time worst bushfire disasters. ...
.
Initial encounter
A mobile phone video of the event,
which attracted just over 1.4 million views on
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most ...
, 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
The Black Saturday bushfires were a series of bushfires that either ignited or were already burning across the Australian state of Victoria on and around Saturday, 7 February 2009, and were among Australia's all-time worst bushfire disasters. ...
; however, the event actually occurred in the week before the worst of the fires, during backburning
A controlled or prescribed burn, also known as hazard reduction burning, backfire, swailing, or a burn-off, is a fire set intentionally for purposes of forest management, farming, prairie restoration or greenhouse gas abatement. A control ...
operations.