Dominic Thiem is known for his protection of animals—see his environmental work and his adoption of a penguin named Bamos—and now he has another new friend under his care.

At Austria's Schonbrunn Zoo ahead of next week's ATP 500 event in Vienna, Thiem became the "godparent" of a baby koala:

Advertising

"In order not to disturb the mother-child duo, Koala Papa Wirri Wirri posed with the proud godparent for the photo," the zoo wrote on Instagram. (Other slides in the post show the joey in its mother's pouch, as well as Thiem and his brother, Moritz, feeding a giant tortoise named Schurli.)

A friend of virtually all animals, Thiem also took some time to feed the giraffes:

Advertising

Animated GIF

Vienna's Erste Bank Open gets underway on Monday. Thiem, now a US Open champion, will surely be name to watch.

Check out the latest episode of the TENNIS.com Podcast with Ken Skupski.

Thiem becomes 
"godparent" of baby 
koala

Thiem becomes "godparent" of baby koala