A second man has come forward to claim that he was the hero seen saving a bunny from the California wildfire in a viral video.
Oscar Gonzalez, 19, had insisted on Friday that he was the mystery animal lover filmed frantically trying to rescue a rabbit from the blaze, claiming he’d saved an ‘entire rabbit family’ from the flames.
But his account has now been challenged by Caleb Wadman, 21, who says that he was the brave bunny rescuer – and his story has backed up by a local veterinary office and a wildlife rehabilitation center.
A second man has come forward to claim that he was the hero seen saving a bunny from the California wildfire in a viral video. Pictured is the injured rabbit that he took the local veterinary hospital
Wadman then drove the rabbit to Conejo Valley Veterinary Hospital and it was later transferred to the California Wildlife Center where it is being treated for burns (pictured)
Wadman told the Huffington Post that he was on the highway in La Conchita when he spotted the wild rabbit ‘in significant distress.’
‘I just ran out,’ he said. ‘I had faith … and that’s when the bunny ran back towards the flames. And I was like, ‘No, baby bunny, I’m here. I’m going to take care of you.’
Wadman then drove the rabbit to Conejo Valley Veterinary Hospital and it was later transferred to the California Wildlife Center where it is being treated for burns.
Staff at the veterinary hospital said that the man who brought in the injured animal was wearing the same clothes as the rescuer in the viral video, and told them he’d found the rabbit in the same area the footage was shot.
Gonzales said in his own account that he’d not taken the rabbit to the vets but had carried it to the other side of the road and let it go.
Oscar Gonzalez, 19, claimed on Friday that he was the man who was filmed picking up a rabbit from the side of the highway in Ventura, California, on Wednesday
Duane Tom, the director of animal care at the California Wildlife Center, confirmed Wadman was the one who dropped off the rabbit at the veterinary hospital. Wadman was also named by his family on social media as being the one to have saved the rabbit.
His aunt, Dorothy Wadman, wrote on Facebook: ‘The guy who is really in the video is our nephew! Not Oscar Gonzales. Just wanted you to know. Caleb’s a pretty great guy.
‘Hate that this Oscar person tried to take credit for something someone else did.’
Hi cousin Sophia Comis added that Wadman had initially decided to stay anonymous but the family were furious that Gonzales had attempted to try and steal his heroic story.
The rescuer’s actions were criticized by some who claimed a wild rabbit would not have needed human intervention, Tom said that in this case, the creature was in dire need of medical help.
The rabbit, which suffered burns and heat damage, is slowly recovering although Tom said it’s not clear if she’ll ever fully recover.
Gonzalez ran towards the rabbit after jumping out of his car but frightened it and it scurried it away from him
The teenager was filmed jumping up and down as it ran towards the flames and away from him
DailyMail.com has reached out to Gonzalez for comment.
While it appears as though the 19-year-old may not have been the rescuer in the viral video, as first suggested, that is not to say he may not have rescued another rabbit.
Gonzales, who works for a commercial refrigerator installer, lives in Pacoima with his fiancée and their five-month-old son, said he’d been driving a friend home from work in Sylmar when he said he saw a white rabbit running along the side of the highway as the flames raged next to it.
‘I knew it was dangerous but I couldn’t leave them to burn!’ he told DailyMail.com on Friday.
Gonzalez said he chased after it, before it hopped straight into his arms and allowed him to carry it to the other side of the highway where there were no flames. He even claimed he in fact saved the whole ‘rabbit family’.
‘I saw two other rabbits with it. I thought to myself it was the rabbit’s family.
‘The rabbit’s family probably thought I was gonna hurt it [but] when I picked up the rabbit, they followed,’ he said.
Exasperated, he tapped on his legs to beckon it like a dog and shouted ‘what are you doing!?’
Gonzalez said the animal then ran towards him and allowed him to scoop it up. Video of the rescue shows him stretching out to grab it from behind
The 19-year-old carried the rabbit to the other side of the highway and set it free again
Gonzalez said the animal’s young followed him across the road. They were not seen in the video
Gonzalez then took it to the other side of the highway and set it free again before getting back in his car.
‘I quickly picked the rabbit up and walked to the other side where there wasn’t fire,’ he said.
The teenager works for Anthony’s, a Sylmar-based company which produces and installs the large refrigerator doors used in stores like Costco.
He said the ordeal was frightening and that he could feel the heat of the flames on his face as he tried to coax the rabbit into his arms.
‘The flames were so close,’ he said.
Many celebrated his efforts but wildlife experts were not among them.
They said Gonzalez put himself and others at great risk by walking towards the fire and that the rabbit, as a wild animal, knew instinctively how to survive without his intervening.
The father-of-one said he could not watch as the ‘poor’ rabbits ran between the flames so decided to intervene
Among the many thousands who praised Gonzalez and dubbed him a hero was Ellen De Generes
Hundreds of thousands shared their support for Gonzalez’s act but others labeled him an ‘idiot’ for putting himself – and the first responders who would have had to save him if he came to harm – at risk
Rabbits are among the wild animals which are most likely to survive wildfires because they normally burrow from the flames.
Desert cottontail rabbits, which are common in Southern in California, typically give birth to young around this time of year.
Since the fires took hold earlier this week, experts have warned residents not to get in the way of any wild animals in the area.
‘If you encounter a wild animal in your neighborhood, leave it alone.
‘Fire or no fire, just let the animals be. Fire is something animals have to deal with constantly,’ California Fish and Wildlife spokesperson Peter Tira told San Francisco Gate.