- Video posted to Reddit shows an overheated kangaroo cooling off inside a family's pool in Australia.
- According to Nine News, the scene was filmed by Sharon Grady, who lives in the town of Merriwa located in the Hunter region in the state of New South Wales.
- "I think poor old skippy was a bit hot today so he's decided to come for a swim," she said while she filmed the video near the pool. "Only in Australia can you see this."
- Although the image of a kangaroo cooling off inside a swimming pool may seem comical, it is also a stark reminder of the intensifying bushfires currently razing through Australia's nature reserves and residential areas.
- Australia is currently battling some of the worst bushfires it has ever seen, which have killed seven people and razed more than 3 million hectares (7.4 million acres), according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).
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An overheated kangaroo took a dip inside a family's pool in order to escape the bushfires raging through Australia.
According to Nine News, the scene was filmed by Sharon Grady, who lives in the town of Merriwa located in the Hunter region in the state of New South Wales.
The town is located about 273 kilometers (169 miles) northwest of Sydney and is only a short distance away from the Meads Creek West Bushfire currently burning in the region.
As of Tuesday afternoon local time, the fire was being controlled by the New South Wales Rural Fire Service.
In the video, first posted to Reddit's r/Australia forum by Grady and obtained by Nine News, the kangaroo can be seen leisurely wading in the shallow pool outside the family's home.
COOL KANGA: A beautiful kangaroo has been spotted cooling off in a backyard pool in the New South Wales Hunter region. #9News
— Nine News Australia (@9NewsAUS) December 22, 2019
Credit: Sharon Grady. pic.twitter.com/3nAQ6H2np7
"I think poor old skippy was a bit hot today so he's decided to come for a swim," she said while she filmed the video near the pool. "Now to work out how to get him out."
"Only in Australia can you see this," she added.
According to the Reddit post, the kangaroo was able to get himself out after a few hours of cooling off in the water.
Kangaroos, particularly males, have been known to search out watering holes in order to escape extreme heat in the Australian bushlands. Kangaroos are also good swimmers.
Although the image of a kangaroo cooling off inside a swimming pool may seem comical, it is also a stark reminder of the intensifying bushfires currently razing through Australia's nature reserves and residential areas.
Australia is currently battling some of the worst bushfires it has ever seen.
Bushfires in Australia are very common during the hotter spring and summer months, though scientists have said that Australia's fire season is beginning earlier and becoming more extreme as a result of climate change.
So far, fires throughout several states have killed seven people and razed more than 3 million hectares (7.4 million acres), according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).
Of the nearly 200 fires burning around Australia, more than half are taking place in New South Wales.
The NSW Rural Fire Service, which has over 74,000 volunteer members, said that as of December 22, at least 829 homes have been destroyed in fires, including 100 homes since last Thursday.
The fires were so out of control last week that the New South Wales Government declared a State of Emergency for the second time in two weeks. It will last from December 19 to December 26.
Australia's Bureau of Meteorology said that readings indicated that Australia recorded its hottest day on record last Wednesday. The bureau also predicted that parts of the country would see a continuation of warmer and drier-than-average conditions throughout 2020.
Last week, Australia faced record-high temperatures across the country, with temperatures soaring above 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit).
Australia's Bureau of Meteorology said that preliminary readings indicate that Australia recorded its hottest day on record last Wednesday. The average temperature in the country reached 41.9 degrees Celsius (107.4 degrees Fahrenheit), beating the record of 40.9 degrees Celsius (105.6 degrees Farenheit) set just a day prior.
Australia's native wildlife have also been impacted by the extreme weather taking place.
Reddit user Bill Wallace posted a photo of cockatoos that had fallen from the sky and died due to the heat.
Around 2,000 koalas are also feared to have been killed by the fires that are destroying their habitat, according to SBS.
The koala is currently listed as "vulnerable" by Australia's Environment Ministry, and experts at the Australian Koala Foundation announced in May that they believe no more than 80,000 koalas are left on the continent and are considered to be "functionally extinct."
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