Wild Koala Day

Wild Koala Day was started by a group of conservationists five years ago as a way to bring awareness to koalas in the wild; their habits, their challenges and to inspire ways for all of us to get involved. Each year, the founders of the day empower and support groups and individuals to generate interest in their own way and with their own messages. It’s a lovely and cooperative effort that’s gaining huge traction in Australia.

We participated in an event for the Day, by working with a local rescue group who engages with the public to share information about the koalas’ challenges and provide education to members of the public. We’ve often heard from people who’ve lived in the area all their lives, that they had no idea koalas were right in their own neighborhoods.

On this particular day, we went to one of our favorite spotting areas, the Lawnton Reserve, looking for a female and her joey we’d seen a few days earlier. While searching, the light began to fade, and we finally spotted the female, high up in the tree, feeding. As we photographed her, we were approached by a woman walking along the path. She indicated that there was another, just the other side of the tree trunk; a joey. We scooted around to the other side of the tree, and there he/she was, at eye level! The nugget struggled up the trunk a small way, found and nestled into a fork, where we photographed her/him just before dusk. Such a lovely encounter.

And to think we’d likely walked right by him/her! It pays to be observant!