Thirsty koala stops American cyclists for a drink

“Hey mister, got any for me?”

A parched young koala flagged down cyclists along an Australian highway Tuesday to re-hydrate, and has been photographed climbing up a bike wheel to beg for a sip of water.

“I was riding up the old freeway and saw them on the other side of the road and stopped to take the pics,” Nick Lothian told The Advertiser.

“About 30 minutes later I was coming down and the couple (the man with the koala on his wheel and a woman – I think they were American) were still there,” he said. “I stopped and talked to them and gave them some more water, which the koala was drinking pretty greedily.”

Lothian said he waited for animal rescue volunteers to come help the fuzzy guy.

Despite it being the first week of autumn in Australia, a heat wave has brought temperatures up to 98 degrees. Even though koalas are native, heat can make them do some bold things, as this isn’t the first time it’s happened.

Arizonans should just feel lucky that javelinas haven’t learned the same trick!