When a cattle farmer in Jamieson, Australia, noticed an animal huddled in the middle of a dirt track, he initially believed he had come across a wild koala. But upon closer inspection, the little fluff ball appeared to actually be an abandoned puppy.
As ABC reported, the small animal (dubbed "Sooty" for his unusual coloring and in honor of the year of Victoria's worst bushfires) was brought to the Australian Dingo Foundation (ADF).
It was there that experts confirmed this "dog" was, in fact, an ultra-rare, purebred alpine dingo pup, classified as a threatened species in Victoria.
