Koala rescued from Australian bushfires dies

The koala rescued from the fires in New South Wales has died from his burns.

"Ellenborough Lewis" was in the care of the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital after being badly scorched in a fire in Long Flat.

On Tuesday morning, the hospital posted the sad news on Facebook. 

"We placed him under general anesthesia to assess his burns and change the bandages," it wrote.

It said burns often get worse before they get better and in Lewis's case, "the burns did get worse and unfortunately would not have gotten better".

The decision was made to put Lewis to sleep to stop him suffering any further. 

The hospital said previously it would not keep koalas alive "to save their lives" if it means the animals would be in unbearable pain.

"We are all about animal welfare first and foremost."

Video of Lewis being rescued from the flames recently went viral, as a local woman was filmed endangering herself to save him.

In the video, Toni walks into the burning bush shirtless in order to grab Lewis and wrap him in her shirt.

Lewis is heard crying in the video as he is wrapped in the woman's shirt and a blanket and water is poured over it.

More than 350 koalas are feared to be dead due to the fires.