Will Thorton, a 39-year-old Australian living in southeast Queensland, stopped traffic on a road on Thursday to allow a koala to cross,

Geo

reports .

This surreal scene, symbol of the situation of koalas in this Australian state, was captured by his wife and a CCTV camera.


Asked by

The Guardian

, Will Thorton explained that he saw the little animal while he was at home.

“My wife and I were having coffee on the balcony when we saw a koala coming down from the trees right in front of us,” he says.

Seeing that the koala was heading towards the Gold Coast Highway, he decided to intervene by temporarily stopping traffic in order to help him cross... like a policeman.


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An endangered species

The man found himself in the middle of the road trying to stop motorists.

“It was a bit surreal.

I had to put my hands up so the drivers wouldn't think I was some kind of crazy.

But they could see that there was a koala on the road and they understood,” he continues.

Thanks to Will Thorton, the animal was able to cross the track without any problem.

"I'm just glad he made it," said the 30-something after his act of kindness.



But beyond this act of bravery, the crossing of this koala bears witness to a critical environmental situation in Queensland.

"Southeast Queensland is an area that has been massively affected by land clearing, largely for development and transportation," said Dave Copeman, spokesman for the Queensland Conservation Council.

Consequently, the natural habitat of koalas is today directly threatened and the species risks becoming extinct if the authorities do not stop the clearing and do not develop their reforestation activities.

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