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For all interview requests for the Southern Ash Wildlife Shelter please contact:
Peita Elkhorne on 0425 820 053 or peita_elkhorne@tresscox.com.au
For further information, interviews or images, please contact:
Lynnette Foo on (03) 8341 7726, 0422 115 391 or lfoo@museum.vic.gov.au
Tom Vasey on (03) 8341 7141, 0408 139 846 or tvasey@museum.vic.gov.au
MEDIA RELEASE
Sam the Koala goes on view at
Melbourne Museum
From today, visitors to Melbourne Museum will be able to see Sam the Koala, a powerful
and internationally recognised symbol of the tragedy of Victoria’s bushfires.
Sam became the most famous koala in the world when images of her were seen by millions of people around the
globe following Victoria’s devastating bushfires in February 2009.
"It is fitting that Sam will have a permanent home in the Melbourne Museum where children and families will be
able to visit her and learn about her story" said The Hon Lynne Kosky, Minister for the Arts.
“Sam became a symbol of the enormous loss felt by so many in the aftermath of last year’s terrible bushfires, and
for this reason I believe it’s important that visitors from Victoria, across Australia and from overseas can see Sam
and be reminded of her story and the events of Black Saturday” said Dr J Patrick Greene, CEO, Museum Victoria.
Sam’s public story started a week before Black Saturday when she was filmed drinking from a firefighter’s water
bottle after being caught in a controlled back-burning operation. On February 6, Sam was located on Samson
Road, Mirboo North, by Wildlife Rescue and Protection (WRAP) volunteers and taken to the Southern Ash Wildlife
Shelter (SAWS), a shelter specialising in the treatment of burns. Sam was among more than 100 fire-injured
koalas cared for at SAWS following the bushfires.
The publication of Sam’s image became headline news around the world, when she became a symbol of hope
and resilience amidst the loss and trauma of Australia’s worst bushfires on record. Her story also involves the
thousands of people in the community, many of them volunteers, who play a vital role in responding to bushfires
and their aftermath.
Sam recovered from her burns but sadly was later euthanized due to Chlamydiosis, a disease which is
widespread in koalas and is exacerbated by loss of habitat.
Visitors to Melbourne Museum can see Sam the Koala in the main foyer of Melbourne Museum.
Admission to the main foyer is free. In late March Sam will move to the Victorian environment section of
Wild: Amazing animals in a changing world, the Museum’s latest exhibition. Sam will be part of a display
teaching visitors about biodiversity and issues such as climate change and population growth.
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