Koalas, Kangaroos & Kookaburras

At long last, an opportunity to see koalas! And, oh my, but they are just too cute.

A short distance out of Brisbane is the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary where there are over 100 koalas in a gorgeous setting beside a river with the all-important eucalyptus trees growing all about.

They are there, out in the open, all about the park. A good proportion were nestled in branches fast asleep; something they are prone to do an average of 20 hours a day, but there were still many busy eating and a few younger ones romping around quite actively. And no wonder that they've become such a prime symbol of this country; they certainly are cute and cuddly.

Fortunately times have changed for, in the early 20^th century, they were hunted almost to extinction, primarily for their fur which, sometimes, was used for no other purpose than packing material for shipping goods – an old-fashioned version of today's bubble wrap. I cringe at the thought. Happily, nowadays, they are very much a protected species but are still losing their natural habitat to development and the loss of forest so have never quite regained their previous numbers.

Blue winged Kookaburra*

The sanctuary is also home to a host of beautiful Australia birds, snakes & reptiles, dingos, wombats, platypus and kangaroos.  The wombats were constantly fast asleep hence the lack of an action shot and the majority of the birds were in huge wired aviaries making it impossible to take decent photos through the wire (so, a few borrowed pics*).  This country has certainly been blessed with an extraordinary array of the most beautiful and colourful birds.

We listened to a talk on the koalas as well as one on dingos which proved very interesting, the latter dispelling much of the negative publicity we had previously heard of these magnificent looking animals. One large male was all white such as those found further south in the colder, mountainous regions; the others the more common rusty ginger colouring found in the warmer areas.

Another wonderful and memorable day.

PHOTO GALLERY:

 

So soft

 

Well, maybe not everyone

Rainbow lorikeet

 

Relaxing in the true sense or the word

Emu

A mother & her joey

 

Barking Owl

Sea eagle

Crested Cockatoo*

Pink Cockatoo*

Slumbering wombat

White dingo

 

Tasmanian Devil