Jeremy The Koala Recovers From Australia Bushfire Injuries, Returns To The Wild

Jeremy the koala, the animal who became a social-media sensation after a photo went viral showing him recuperating from injuries from an Australian wildfire, has fully recovered and now being released back into the wild, according to his carers Friday.

The three-year-old male Jeremy the koala, nicknamed after his rescuer, was reportedly removed from the Adelaide Hills in South Australia after getting injured in a huge brush fire that swept through the area earlier this month. His paws were burned, therefore needing badly of treatment, reported NPR.

He has since made a complete recovery, according to Aaron Machado, the president of the Australian Marine Wildlife Research and Rescue Organisation (AMWRRO), the clinic that treated the Jeremy the koala.

"The only thing he has to do now is get used to not having any more room service," Machado told the BBC of the marsupial's return to the wild.

Jeremy the koala was nicknamed after Jeremy Sparrow, a Paracombe County Fire Service volunteer firefighter who was helping to battle the massive fire in the Adelaide Hills early January. He came across the injured koala and rescued him.

Sparrow was quoted by Adelaide's Channel 7 news as saying the animal "was sitting there, just looking at me and needed some help."

According to Sparrow, the koala protested at first when he was wrapped he wrapped him in a towel and brought him back to their unit's fire truck.

"I think he knew that help was on the way," Sparrow said.

Channel 7 reported that the Jeremy the koala's paws were soaked, treated and bandaged for several weeks.

Jeremy the Koala was then transferred and treated at AMWRRO in Port Melbourne after gaining burns to the paws, according to the BBC.

A photograph of Jeremy the koala lying flat on his front showing the four damaged paws - which had second-degree burns - submerged in buckets with a medical solution, was shared on social media and has went viral quickly, according to the AFP.

"It was fantastic, textbook. He responded well to treatment," Machado told AFP of Jeremy the koala's recovery.

Machado added that the koala was initially wary of his rescuers at first.

"He had a big attitude," he said.

However, the Jeremy the koala later became easier to manage "once he was over that initial shock and he realised that we weren't going to eat him".

"We realised he wasn't just big grumpy bum, he actually had a big heart," Machado added.

Jeremy the koala was reportedly one of the lucky ones to have survived the massive blaze.

"There's been an awful lot of [injured animals] that we have had to put down," said Sparrow.

Hundreds of animals were believed to have been killed in the bushfires in South Australia.

The fires that injured Jeremy the koala reportedly raged across some 12,500 hectares (30,888 acres) of land, about 30 minutes drive south east of Adelaide. While more than 100 people received hospital treatment, at least 32 homes were also destroyed.