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Published 17:28 IST, January 13th 2020

This 'koala challenge' is raising funds to fight Australia bushfire crisis

Amid the devastating bushfires in Australia, a fitness beverage company has come up with 'Koala Challenge' to raise funds for people, wildlife and firefighters.

Reported by: Sounak Mitra
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Amid the devastating bushfires in Australia, a fitness beverage company has come up with 'Koala Challenge' to raise funds for people, wildlife and firefighters. People are urged to hang upside-down from a workout bench and post videos of the challenge on social media. The beverage company FITAID vowed that for each video it will donate $5. The Koala Challenge needs a person lie flat on top of a workout bench and then move the entire body to hang from the underside bench without touching the ground.

READ: Plush Koalas Taped Across NYC To Raise Funds For Australia Bushfire Crisis

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Challenge surfaces on social media

The challenge has surfaced on social media platform with users uploading their videos. James Newbury, renowned Australian athlete has also uploaded a video of him performing the challenge on his Instagram handle. James post has managed to garner over 78, 000 views and has received over 100 comments. 

READ: Scottish Reporter Pranked By Aussies Into Wearing Full Protective Gear To Hold A Koala

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'Koalas of NYC' raises $3000

Koalas of NYC, a fundraising campaign to save wildlife in Australia has collected over $3,000. As a part of the campaign plush koalas, were hung on trees, telephone poles and other structures across New York City on Friday. Along with the stuffed koalas, there are tags that read, “1 billion of the world’s unique animals population has died in the Australian bushfires.” The signposts also have a scannable code for people who wish to make donations. 

The idea to place the toys and urge people to help the wildlife first came from the big apple outpost of the Australian ad agency 'Cummins&Partners'. Dianne Villvieja, who is the agency’s operation manager said that their team in the US were absolutely devastated and wanted to help in some way which leads to the idea. A fundraising page was also set up by the agency which said that the donations will go to the NSW Wildlife Information Rescue and Education Service.

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READ: Species Desperately Imperiled By Bushfires, New Plea For New Zealand To House Koalas

READ: Australia Bushfires: Hunter Becomes Unlikely Hero After Rescuing Koalas

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17:28 IST, January 13th 2020