Premiering tonight on Lifestyle, Bear – Koala Hero is an exclusive one-hour special presented by wildlife activist Tyson Mayr and follows the journey of an extraordinary dog and his team, as they rescue and rehabilitate Australia’s iconic native animal, the koala.
This remarkable koala detection dog called Bear became the ultimate beacon of hope during Australia’s recent bushfire crisis, working tirelessly to find koalas injured and displaced as a result of the devastation surrounding them.
The damage from this season’s bushfires is incalculable – and with vast tracts of Australian bushland razed, experts estimate that one billion-plus animals have perished, with some populations of the eucalypt-dwelling, slow-moving koalas at risk of becoming endangered.
Travel presenter and wildlife campaigner Tyson Mayr was compelled to act after his own family’s farm withstood Queensland’s Darling Downs fire in November 2019. After hearing the cries of injured koalas and wildlife, Tyson contacted the International Fund for Animal Welfare and was introduced to the Detection Dogs for Conservation program at the University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland – and their charge, the blue-eyed koala detection dog Bear.
In Bear – Koala Hero, Tyson follows the boot-wearing Bear and his handlers as they scour burnt-out bushland in southern Queensland and New South Wales during the summer of 2020, searching for sick and injured koalas.
