Australian police rescue dehydrated koala from woman's bag

Police found a koala inside a woman's handbag in Australia.

No that's not the start of a joke, but something that really happened near Brisbane.

Police from South Brisbane found the strange stowaway in a handbag after they stopped a female driver for a separate matter.

As the woman was being arrested for an unrelated matter that police did not disclose, they asked if she had anything to declare.

She said she had a baby koala in her bag.

Police said in a statement, "there are many firsts in our job and last night was one of those for officers from the Upper Mount Gravatt Tactical Crime Squad."

Police said the koala was believed to be about six months old, and seemed to be in good health, though a bit dehydrated.

The police named the koala Alfred, and he is being treated with fluids and will be sent to a caretaker soon.