A little while ago devastating bushfires ravaged parts of New South Wales and Queensland in Australia. The fires destroyed houses and also led to many animals being hurt and/or killed. In fact, despite prompt response by many citizens, koalas and other animals succumbed to burn injuries.

Now, a team has been set up to search for any koalas that may have survived the bushfires. And an important member of the team is the ‘goodest boi ever’, Bear, who helps detect surviving koalas.

Bear, who is a border collie mix, has been specially trained to sniff out and detect koalas who may be orphaned, injured, misplaced, or sick. In fact, in order to be able to detect koalas, you need a special set of skills, which includes hyperfocus and a lack of prey drive – two things Bear excels at.


Bear, who is six years old now, was actually abandoned as a pup for the very qualities that make him an amazing detection dog. But, he was adopted by Detection Dogs for Conservation, and today, he does his best to find injured koalas.

This is Bear. He was abandoned as a puppy due to his OCD, but quickly found a new life as a koala detection dog. As wildfires devastate Australia’s east coast, Bear is doing his best to locate any injured or misplaced koalas. He’s their unexpected savior, and our thirteenth 15/10 pic.twitter.com/dWe8tWbEJo
— WeRateDogs® (@dog_rates) November 21, 2019
Of course, Twitterati was in love with this adorable cutie and his honorable actions:
Oh Bear. Dogs are the best and you are, clearly, one of the best of the best. Hence the 15/10. Perhaps even scored a tad bit low.
— Karen Rhodenizer (@Communigirl) November 21, 2019
Sorry for the language but F*** YEAH BEAR!
— Anthony Nelson (@AnthonyNelson25) November 21, 2019
He attac, he protec, but mostly koalas, he’s got your back. 😃
— Andrea Doyle (@toughtorque) November 21, 2019
YOU'RE DOING SUCH A GOOD JOB, BEAR.
— Casper ✨ (@Casper_Kerrivan) November 21, 2019
Well I wasnt puppared to cry at my desk today but here we are pic.twitter.com/996xeTpLiI
— Jeremy Merrick (@JeremyMMerrick) November 21, 2019
The cuteness is almost unbearable. This is koality content
— Lynne Kelly 🐘🐳 (@LynneKelly) November 21, 2019
Here’s hoping that with Bear’s help, the Koalas have a fighting chance to survive the devastating fires.
All images from IFAW Facebook post, unless specified otherwise.