iStock/Thinkstock(SYDNEY) — Australian police discovered a baby koala in a woman’s backpack while she was being arrested on Sunday.
Brisbane authorities arrested a 50-year-old East Brisbane woman for “outstanding matters” at 8:55 p.m. on Sunday night, and asked if she had anything to declare before she was taken into custody, police said.
“The woman handed over a zipped green canvas bag telling officers it contained a baby koala,” the Queensland Police Department said in a statement.
“Not quite believing their ears the officers cautiously un-zipped the bag and found this gorgeous boy,” the police department said, with accompanying photos of the adorable joey peeking out of a green canvas.
The koala was estimated to be about six months old, weighed in at 1.5 kilograms (about 3 pounds), and is in good health, police said. Police officials said this was a “first” for them, and they quickly turned the koala over to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) in Queensland.
“He’s been on fluids but is doing well and will shortly be going out to a carer,” Michael Beatty, a spokesman for RSPCA Queensland, said in a statement, adding that they named the adorable koala “Alfred.”
The RSPCA urged that anyone who finds a koala should “not attempt to handle it.”
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