By 3 News online staff
A koala has been nicknamed 'Bear Grylls' for surviving against the odds after being hit by a car going 100km/h and becoming trapped in the grille.
'Bear', which is actually a marsupial, was on the South Eastern Freeway in the Adelaide Hills when driver Loren Davis accidentally hit him, ABC News reports.
She'd hit the animal on an offramp heading toward Mount Barker where it was dark and there were no street lights.
Ms Davis said she hadn't spotted it until too late and was left with no option but to stay in her lane.
"I didn't see the koala until my headlights found it but I couldn't change lanes because another car was there [on the inside lane].
"I slammed my brakes on but another car was behind me, so there was no choice but to hit the koala," she says.
Fearing she'd killed it, she pulled over but couldn't see it on the road.
She continued on her drive home – around 10km from the collision – but arrived to a surprise.
"Once I got home and pulled into the garage I turned on the light to see the damage. I turned around, saw a koala and just screamed."
Her fear of having killed it seemed to have been realised, and she ran inside to tell her fiancée and his son, who upon inspecting it said Bear was still alive.
Ms Davis says the marsupial was "with it" and, perhaps unsurprisingly, growled when they got close.
It was eventually wriggled out of the grille with a blanket and had only minor cuts.
Fauna Rescue of South Australia were called and when they got there, Bear was hanging out on some gym equipment in the garage.
Bear was taken to a vet for further examination, but no other injuries were found.
Fauna Rescue volunteer and koala hotline operator Don Bingham says koalas on roads in the Adelaide Hills are a common occurrence and "don't behave in an extremely bright manner sometimes".
In fact, it's the second 'grilled koala' in the past three weeks in the same area.
3 News
