Up Close with the Koalas

I have yet to meet a North American who is not enamored by the koala.  With their cute ears and cuddly looking faces, koalas are a favorite for us, somewhat to the amusement of more than a few of our Australian friends, many of whom have never bothered to seek them out in the wild.  In our most recent experience with them during the week leading up to Christmas, we got closer than we ever have before, at least outside of a zoo or sanctuary. That evening they seemed to be particularly active, and each sighting was better than the previous one. 

We began by admiring them asleep up in the gum trees.  The mom below was cuddling with a baby.

Several stops down the road we heard that a young koala had just fallen out of his tree.  By the time we rushed over, he had begun the long climb back up.  He ascended carefully, pausing at each fork for a rest.  His mother remained high above him munching away, seemingly unconcerned with the plight of her young one below.

We watched until he had nearly reached the height of his mother, and then traveled on.  At the next spot, there were several koalas on both sides of the road.  One decided to climb down and cross over to the other side right in front of us.  We concluded that he was not full-sized, but he climbed much more confidently than the little guy we had just watched.

 

At our final stop, we found another young koala, this one apparently injured by a fall earlier in the day.  When the tourists in front of us pulled over, he limped over to their car, and tried to crawl underneath.  One person in the concerned crowd went off to call the injured wildlife line, and in the meantime it was decided that we should try to lure the koala off the road with some food.  He munched the eucalyptus leaves eagerly, and gradually was drawn well off the road.

By this time, it was well past our own dinner hour, and when Rob threatened to try the eucalyptus leaves for himself, we relucantly loaded everyone back into the cars. We would pay the price the next day in the form of over-tired children, and even a few moments, dare I say, of grumpiness for some of the adults, myself included.  The magic of this evening carried us through, however, and I am confident that were we given the chance, we would do it all over again.