text: Mary Anne Forster was attacked by a koala while walking her dogs. Photo: 7News. 
   
   A woman has been left bloodied and required a four-day stay in hospital after being attacked by a koala north of Adelaide. 
   
   But despite her injuries, she says she doesn’t blame the animal for the brutal attack. 
   
   Williamstown woman Mary Anne Forster said she was walking her two dogs a fortnight ago when they pulled her towards a koala at the base of a tree. 
   
   “Obviously the koala felt very threatened because it attached itself with its mouth, jaws, to my leg and bit very hard, bit very deeply,” she said. 
   
   After a struggle, she managed to break free. 
   
   “Because it wouldn’t let go, I put my fingers in its mouth and pried its jaws open to release my leg,” Ms Forster said. 
   
   The assistant principal hobbled more than two kilometres home and was then taken to hospital. 
   
   Ms Forster was taken to hospital after the koala bite. Photo: Supplied. 
   
   She needed 12 stitches. 
   
   “All wild animals have dirty bites and so it was a matter of covering with the antibiotics because it became very infected, it was very swollen and painful,” she said. 
   
   Environmental experts have warned people to keep their distance if they spot a koala out in the wild. 
   
   “Just leave them alone, certainly don’t let dogs go near them because they will fight back, they’ve got big claws and big teeth,” Dr Deb Kelly from the Environment Department said. ||||| A koala attack in South Australia left one woman, who was walking her dogs at the time, bitten and bloodied. 
   
   Mary Anne Forster took her two dogs for a walk two weeks ago and when they pulled her toward a koala at the base of a tree, 7News Adelaide reported Wednesday. The koala launched into an attack on the dogs, but Forster got caught in the middle. 
   
   “Obviously the koala felt very threatened because it attached itself with its mouth, jaws, to my leg and bit very hard, bit very deeply,” she told 7News. 
   
   The koala latched on to Forster's leg and would not let go, causing a bite that required 12 stitches. In a desperate attempt to get the animal off her leg, she put her fingers in its mouth to get it to release its jaw. It finally released its grip and she stumbled 2km home before being admitted to hospital. 
   
   The wound on Forster's leg. Image: 7News Adelaide 
   
   Although koalas and dogs have a history of fighting, with 110 koalas killed each year by dog attacks, it is rare for a humans to be involved. 
   
   "It should also be remembered that koalas are capable of defending themselves. They have sharp teeth and claws capable of causing deep wounds and any dog that attacks a koala may risk serious injury," the Department of Environment and Heritage Protection states on its website.
target: – It wasn't the koala's fault, says an Australian woman who was savaged by one of the planet's cutest and most cuddly-appearing creatures. According to 7News Adelaide, Mary Anne Forster was walking her two dogs a couple of weeks ago when they dragged her toward a koala at the bottom of a tree; she got caught in the middle when the koala attacked the dogs. "Obviously the koala felt very threatened because it attached itself with its mouth, jaws, to my leg and bit very hard, bit very deeply," she says. Forster, who had to put her fingers in the koala's mouth to make it let go, needed 12 stitches and spent four days in the hospital after the attack. The bite "became very infected, it was very swollen and painful," she says. The koala had good reason to feel threatened, Mashable reports: Australian authorities estimate that 110 koalas are killed in dog attacks every year, and an environmental department spokesperson warns that people who see them in the wild should "just leave them alone—certainly don't let dogs go near them because they will fight back, they've got big claws and big teeth." (Scientists using thermal cameras have discovered why koalas hug trees.)