'Refugee cat' Kunkush Finally Reunited with Iraqi Family After 4-month/ 4,000km Adventure

PHOTO: Kunkush’s fur was grey and matted when it was found in a fishing village. (Facebook: Reunite Dias)

A “refugee cat” that traveled on a crowded rubber boat with its family fleeing Iraq, only to run away scared on a Greek island and be lost, has been reunited with his humans months later in Norway.

Fluffy white male cat Kunkush’s adventure spanned 4,000 kilometres (about 2,500 miles.) It all began when the cat leaped out of the small basket on Lesbos after the family had journeyed all the way from the Islamic State-controlled Mosul in Iraq.

PHOTO: The family of five children and their mother took Kunkush with them in the boat to Lesbos. (Supplied: Reunite Dias)

The cat’s family, comprised of a woman and her five children, searched for hours before being forced to move to the next transit camp.

Kunkush resurfaced three days later in a fishing village and, although its fur was now matted and grey, many locals recognized it, labeling it “refugee cat” and the return to his owners was on! Volunteers set to work to reunite Kunkush with his family.

PHOTO: Local cats were unwelcoming to “refugee cat” Kunkush. (Facebook: Reunite Dias)

“I know how much hope means to a person who has nothing else left,” Ms Shrodes said.

“I felt strongly that if this family took such a huge effort to bring him with them, they must consider him a part of their family.”

“It wouldn’t be right to not give them a chance to at least know he’s OK, and even take him back if they’re in a place where they can.”

PHOTO: Kunkush obtained a pet passport before being flown to Berlin. (Facebook: Reunite Dias)

Kunkush obtained a pet passport and in January and Ms Shrodes flew with the cat all the way to Berlin, where a social media user had volunteered to foster it while the search for his family continued.

About five weeks later, its family, now living in Norway, contacted the volunteers through the cat’s own Facebook page.

PHOTO: Kunkush travelled to Berlin to live with a foster family. (Facebook: Reunite Dias)

PHOTO: Kunkush in Iraq, before boarding the boat to Lesbos. (Supplied: Reunite Dias)

They sent photos which were taken of Kunkush in Iraq.

A reunion was first held over Skype, before Kunkush traveled to join his family in their new home in Steinkjer, giving this wild adventure a happy ending.