A koala miraculously survived a 16-kilometer road trip in Adelaide, southern Australia, while clinging to a car axle. The koala, named Kelly after one of its rescuers, was released back into the wild on Friday. /Chinanews Photo

The driver discovered Kelly when he stopped his vehicle after hearing the marsupial’s cries. Rescuers responded to a call from him and took the wheel off to free the animal. /Chinanews Photo

"I could smell her burnt fur," Jane Brister from Fauna Rescue told Reuters. "It would have been hot in there." Luckily, the koala only suffered minor injuries from the ordeal. However, the rescuers found it was a lactating mother, which means its baby was missing. /Chinanews Photo

The species was listed as "vulnerable” under an Australian conservation law in 2012. There are fewer than 100,000 of the animals in the wild, perhaps even as few as 43,000 according to Australian Koala Foundation estimates. /Reuters Photo