A heartbreaking cartoon showing Steve Irwin welcoming animals killed in the Australian bushfires has the internet devastated.
Twenty-two year-old artist Sharnia-Mae Sturm, known as Sketchy Koala, posted the image on her Facebook and Instagram accounts shortly after news of the fires in Australia broke. The sketch shows the late Steve Irwin greeting a group of kangaroos, ostriches, koalas and other Australian animals with open arms.
“This little tribute drawing goes to all the innocent animals caught in the blazes across my home country, it breaks my heart to see it’s still going on but there’s only so much that can be done to keep it from spreading,” Sturm wrote on her Facebook account.
“I hope all the animals who couldn’t make it are now in heaven with Steve Irwin, being taken care of, and not having a care in the world or memory of how they got there. Rest In Peace fuzzy babies, we will miss you.”
As of Jan. 8, the Facebook post has more than 3,500 comments and 30,000 shares. Sturm said she received so many likes and comments on her Instagram post that the social network deactivated her account, due to suspicion that the likes and comments were false.
“‘I guess it’s from the sudden outburst of people liking commenting and sharing my drawing. I’m working on getting it back online though! Thank you all for your love and support,” she wrote.
