Prue Vincent
February 12, 2009 - 6:17PM
'Koala Man' Dave Tree woke up this morning to find he'd made front-page news across the globe.
NBC, Fox, CNN, even Ellen Degeneres have been on the phone, propelling Dave into the spotlight.
Unfortunately nobody appears to have asked the relevant question 'when was this video filmed?'
The video of the Mirboo North resident stroking a singed koala was actually taken in the week leading up to the deadliest bushfires in Australian history, during preventative backburning operations.
The video shows Dave feeding water from a bottle to the koala, now universally known as 'Sam'. The wounded animal also rests its paw on Dave's hand.
Now Dave has become a household name from London to Los Angeles, but he says all the media interest has taken its toll.
"I think it happened about a week and a half ago, but you'll have to bear with me – I'm losing track of the days.
"I've had all these phone calls for interviews, I've lost contact. I can't get my head around it. I don't think it's finished yet.
"But if Oprah Winfrey called and wanted me to come over to be on her show, I'd have to say No – I'm terrified of flying. I can't get in a plane.
Dave says there was no intention to deceive the public or court publicity and fame.
He says he only took the video to show his daughter.
"I emailed the photos out to a few people to cheer them up. And it's just snowballed from there.
"It's just gotten so out of control, I definitely wasn't up for it. My head's spinning. I'm having a hard time dealing with it…Mentally…it's just, wow. I'm really outside my comfort zone.
"I'm a country boy. I live in a small town of 1800. "
"If people see it as a distraction and a good news story amidst all the tragedy we're going through, then that's great.
Despite the time-lag, the photographs of Tree stroking Sam the Koala have come to symbolise the plight of native animals left homeless after thousands of hectares of bushland burnt.
"At first she was really wary, then she just plonked down and it was like "You're a big predator, but I'm sore, I'm beat, I'm done." She was in pain. And she just looked up at me. So I yelled out for the bottle of water. And she started lapping it up.
Tree was reunited with Sam after she'd been taken to the Mountain Ash Wildlife Shelter for bandaging.
"It was great to see her again. She had a sniff and I got a bit up close and personal, and I even got a bit choked up.
"So I got in there and got a few happy snaps but I had to bail because I was getting a bit chocked up.
Tree is full of praise for the CFA and DSE's work.
"I don't think there's a word in the English vocabulary that sums up the work these guys are doing. The CFA is a massive family. If one stands we all stand, if one falls, we all fall.
"We got off scot-free in our hometown. My heart goes out to those guys out there still fighting. It's just tragic what's happened.
"So many people have cried over it and I think people needed a release. I think that's why they've related to the koala so much."
