Koalas are probably the most iconic Australian animals. In the wild, it’s common to see these adorable mammals in the eucalyptus forests from Queensland’s sun-kissed shores to South Australia’s more chilly mountain woodlands. Yet increasing human activity poses significant threats to koalas. Therefore, more and more often, these animals can be found in unfamiliar environments.
One Australian resident had a chance to see so for himself when he was about to start his casual day at the home office and was suddenly surprised by a new, uninvited coworker.
More info: WIRES
A man in Australia was shocked when he entered his office and found a koala there staring back at him
The adorably cute home hacker turned out to be a wild koala! The man was so surprised by this unique encounter that he didn’t know what to do next, so he reached out to his neighbor, who immediately called WIRES, a wildlife rescue organization.
“The resident who reported the koala to WIRES was definitely shocked. He said that never in the 30 years that he had lived there had he ever seen or been so up close to this magnificent species,” shared Jayden Kolic-Clarke, an animal rescuer at WIRES.
Even though to many of us, finding a koala in one’s home office might seem really unusual, Jayden explained that the situation is not as uncommon as it may look.
“During my time rescuing Australian native wildlife, I have seen it all – from koalas on highways and on active airport runways to them being chased up power poles,” the man said.
“He was definitely a bit far from home. We assume it wandered down the driveway and under the fence, went through an open garage door, under a bus converted into a tiny home and then went into the office at the back of the house,” he added.
The scared koala was taken to WIRES’ facility, nicknamed Paddy, and will be released to his home eucalyptus trees once he is cleared by the vet.
“He’s doing very well – definitely a lot happier than that stressful situation in a home office,” Jayden said.
The koala (combined populations of Queensland, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory) was listed as endangered on the 12th of February in 2022 and, according to some experts, the population remains in decline.
Some people are afraid that by the time Brisbane hosts the Olympic Games in 2032, the only koalas left in the city known as the world’s koala capital will be only those living in forests far outside the city.
“I think within 20 or 30 years, if things don’t change, they’ll be gone in southeast Queensland,” veterinarian Tim Portas shared. “I often think, ‘Am I sitting here, seeing the last of Queensland koalas filtering through, as I work with them?’”
Despite impressive amount of money having been spent on restoring koala habitats, the conservationists say it’s not enough, keeping in mind the scale of deforestation that’s occurring elsewhere.
“What we know from Queensland deforestation data is each year, 70-80% of all deforestation requires no state level approval or oversight. On top of this, the majority of deforestation is never sent to the federal government for approval,” said Gemma Plesman, a senior campaigner at Greenpeace Australia Pacific.
“Aussies would be horrified to know that we are bulldozing koala habitat at the rate that we are,” she added.
Growing human population in the cities is another danger that koalas are constantly forced to face and while some people believe that the animals have become urbanized or accustomed to navigating suburban streets, veteran koala rescuer John Knights has a different opinion about it.
“They’re frightened. They’re lost. If they were urbanized, they wouldn’t be running into the traffic, they wouldn’t be turning up in backyards, they wouldn’t be falling into swimming pools. They’re not urbanized at all,” John said.
“They’re looking for somewhere to live,” he added.
While everyone’s surprised at how a koala got into the man’s office, according to Kolic-Clarke, nowadays koalas find themselves in these unusual environments quite often
Despite their cute and cuddly appearance, koalas are wild animals with very sharp claws and teeth, so they shouldn’t be approached. In cases when the animal appears injured or sick, people should contact the local wildlife authorities to report the situation, as it was successfully done in this story.
While this unique encounter is going viral on the internet, I still hope that koalas will put a smile on our faces much more often in the wild than in such unusual environments as our home offices!
People on the internet were trying to imagine what they would do in such an unexpected situation
