14 DAY TRIAL // This past weekend, a koala looking to plunge the world into chaos was taken into custody by police officers in the city of Sydney in New South Wales, Australia.
The little rascal, pictured next to this article, stands accused of disrupting traffic conditions in this urban area by running across lanes and making it downright impossible for drivers to keep their eyes on the road.
The good news is that, possibly because it's friends with the right people, this koala will not be sent to prison. On the contrary, word has it that it was released in a forested area just hours after being taken into custody.
A most bizarre arrest
As detailed in a post on the official Facebook page for the New South Wales Police Dog Unit, the koala was arrested and locked away in the back of a van on Sunday, in the first few hours of the day. Thus, it was around 2 in the morning that it was first spotted running across traffic lanes.
The officer who first laid eyes on the confused animal tried to convince the koala to go back to its home in the forest on its own. However, the creature refused to take orders for officer Barry, and so the man had to go chasing after it.
“About 2am Sunday morning SC Barry from the Dog Unit observed a Koala running in and out of traffic in Campbelltown. A short foot pursuit occurred and the Koala was eventually arrested and placed for safety in a police vehicle,” reads the Facebook post detailing this case.
Having caught the koala, officers Barry and his colleagues locked it in the back of a police van and contacted the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA). They were told to release the animal someplace as far from the city as possible, and they complied.
As detailed on Facebook, “Police then consulted with RSPCA who advised the Koala should be released in a suitable location, away from the Campbelltown traffic. The Koala was last seen decamping from the Police Vehicle leaving the handcuffs behind.”
The koala was in serious danger
Some folks might let out a few giggles when reading about how, this past weekend, police officers in Australia took a koala into custody, but the fact of the matter is that, while running across traffic lanes, the animal was in serious danger.
Apart from the fact that the experience surely wasn't a very pleasant one for the koala, wildlife experts say that, given how confused the animal must have been, chances are that, had it not been rescued, it would have eventually been hit by a car.
“If he hadn't have jumped out and grabbed it the koala probably would have been run over,” officer Adam Johnson with the New South Wales Police Dog Unit told the press in an interview. Luckily, the animal was rescued before anything bad happened to it.
