Should cuddling koalas be legal? Here’s why there’s a push to ban it in Queensland

The Queensland premier, Steven Miles. cuddles a koala during a visit to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary in 2023. The wildlife park this week banned the practice. Photograph: Jono Searle/AAP

Celebrities, politicians and untold thousands of tourists have done it for years but cuddling koalas at a Brisbane wildlife sanctuary is coming to an end after feedback from visitors.

Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary opened in the Queensland capital in 1927, and describes itself as the world’s first koala sanctuary.