RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:
A call-out in Australia for teeny, tiny mittens has brought a deluge. It's not cold there. Rather, brushfires have been raging across land where many koalas. The poor little koalas are showing up in shelters with scorched paws. The International Fund for Animal Welfare says the marsupial mittens are used to seal in medication while they heal. And the group helpfully included in its call-out a pattern to make the cotton mittens. It's MORNING EDITION.