Koala beats heat with drink from drain in Adelaide Published duration 22 December 2015

media caption A very thirsty koala has been captured on camera drinking water from a drain in Adelaide

Extreme heat drove a koala in the southern Australian city of Adelaide to slake its thirst from a drain.

Adelaide sweltered through four consecutive days of 40C-plus temperatures until rain on Sunday brought cooler weather.

Paul Jansen was driving to a Christmas carols event on Sunday when he spotted the thirsty marsupial.

Mr Jansen, who filmed the incident, told the BBC he was amazed by the amount of water it was drinking.

"It didn't mind the attention or the road noise, it was just focused on the drink," Mr Jansen said.

"They don't usually drink so much water, it's usually extreme cases."

'Feeling rotten'

Fauna Rescue of South Australia volunteer Anne Bigham said the organisation took around 60 calls about koalas every day during the heatwave.

She said it was hard to determine whether a koala was heat-stressed or suffering renal failure, a kidney disease common in South Australian koalas.

The koala in the video likely left its tree because it was feeling ill and took the opportunity to rehydrate at the drain, she said.

"I think they're just feeling so rotten that they come down to the ground," she said.