Aussie Bushfires: Heartbreaking moment koala buries its face in its body after discovering dead friend

Photographers captured the heartbreaking moment a koala seemingly buries her face in her fur after discovering her friend dead at the edge of a watering hole on Kangaroo Island. Photo / Getty

A heartbreaking image has captured the moment a koala buried its head in its fur after discovering her dead friend in a river on Kangaroo Island.

The image, taken on Wednesday, shows a dead koala lying lifeless in the water, while another koala is seen with her head pressed into her chest and arms covering her face.

Photographers captured the heartbreaking moment a koala seemingly buries her face in her fur after discovering her friend dead at the edge of a watering hole on Kangaroo Island. Photo / Getty

Kangaroo Island, south of Adelaide, was ravaged by raging bush fires, leaving behind a trail of destruction and debris.

The fatal fires also claimed the lives of thousands of animals, with the island scattered in animal corpses.

The mourning koala was rescued by wildlife carers from the Humane Society's Animal Rescue team.

Humane Society International's Animal Rescue team save a koala after Kangaroo Island was ravaged by wiping out close to 80 per cent of Koalas on the Island. Photo / Getty

Nearly half of Kangaroo Island has been ravaged by fire, with approximately 80 per cent of the koala habitat wiped out.

HSI's senior specialist in disaster response Kelly Donithan told One Green Planet the scenes she faced on the island were devastating.

"These are some of the toughest scenes I've ever witnessed as an animal rescuer: the bodies of charred animals as far as the eye can see," she said.

"But as we set out each day on search and rescue, we're still finding animals alive, injured, dazed or traumatised, and it's such a relief to be able to give them immediate life."