Koalas are not known for their swimming skills, but one has surprised a group of canoeists in Australia's Gold Coast by hitching a ride with them.
Amateur video shows the animal swimming toward the group in the Tallebudgera Creek and being lifted into the canoe.
The marsupials sleep for up to 16 hours a day and although they can swim, they normally prefer not to. They are also known to drown if they fall in when drinking from swimming pools and are unable to climb out.
It is possible this koala felt trapped on the bank of the tidal creek and decided the canoe was its best available escape route.
Local media said the astonished canoeists put the animal on an embankment at a local golf club where koalas were known to populate the gum trees.
Reuters