Saturday, September 25, 2010
Warning: This post contains many images of cute and cuddly animals. The turning of your head sideways and saying "awwwwww" may occur. Proceed with caution.
Love at first sight? I think so!!!!
How could you not love this face?
The koala can easily be considered Australia's most recognizable symbol and because of that people think you can find them all over the place. Koalas are in fact only found in a very small portion of Australia (along the east and southern coasts). So when you visit the east coast one of the things you have to do is find yourself a koala and cuddle him until they won't let you cuddle him anymore. I decided today would be the day I headed out to visit the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. I had already researched the bus times and travel times and opening and closing times and entry fee costs so getting there really was not going to be a big issue. But even if it was, the bus drivers here in Brisbane are so helpful. There is no way I could have gotten lost.
This is little Fitzroy. The hardest thing I ever had to do in my life was give him back. The koala keeper commented on how comfortable he was with me. It was mutual. I was very comfortable with him too.
It didn't take long before he fell asleep on me. Oh and the difference in picture quality is because they were taken on 2 different cameras. When you get your picture taken you have to have one taken on their camera (which you pay for) and then they will take a few extras on your own camera if you want.
They are just like giant teddy bears, even though we all know they are not bears at all. I had a really hard time giving my koala back and that short 90 seconds will ensure I will be in love with koalas for ever!!!!
I love how they can curl up with a branch and appear to find it super comfortable.
Ever wonder what a koala sounds like? Take a listen.
Some koala info. Koalas are not considered endangered but they are on a serious decline. How they are classified is up to individual states so Queensland's koalas may be classified on a different danger level than those in New South Wales or Southern Australia. 80% of their natural habit has been destroyed. And before there were laws against hunting them, thousands were killed. Imagine how easy it would be…they don’t move.
Perfectly designed to perch in a tree.
So balanced. Such a cute little fur ball.
Koalas are very fussy eaters. While there are over 700 different types of eucalyptus trees in Australia, the koalas only eat about 50 of them. Eucalyptus….not a very high calorie leaf. Only about 5% of it is sugar and starches and about 50% of it is water. That would be the main reason they need to sleep 18 to 20 hours a day……they just don’t get a lot of energy from their food. Koala is an aboriginal word that means "no drink" because they barely need to drink water because they get most of what they need from the leaves.
Still sleeping. But don't worry they wake up in the afternoon at feeding time.
Of course Koalas are not bears, they are in fact marsupials (but we all knew that by now right?). Their closest relative is in fact a wombat because both of them have pouches that open from the bottom instead of the top like you see with kangaroos.
There's a wombat now. Not really sure what they look like because like koalas.....they sleep a lot. And you can't cuddle them because they bite.
Even when not in a tree.....so cute.
This little girl seemed just as interested in us as we were in her.
The koala keepers can tell them all apart by their face. Each one has slight difference in colour and patches that makes them distinguishable from others. If they happen to be all curled up in a ball and they can't see their faces, they can be identified by the spotted areas on their bums. In the wild this serves as camouflage but here in the sanctuary, they basically serve as a name tag.
Look how active they are when awake. Love it!!!!!
A little bit more awake and checking out what is going on.
This girl is checking out what is happening in the koala pad beside her. It is feeding time at the sanctuary and she is probably wondering why she hasn't been fed yet.
Just hanging out. They move around so quickly once they do decide to wake up and move around.
Moms and babies. Baby koalas live in their mother's pouch for about 6 months, and then spend about 6 months hanging on them. After that, mom usually kicks them out to be on their own. At the sanctuary once the baby koala starts spending most of it's time on their own in a tree, they are moved away from their mom and put in a different pad.
Little koalas. Does it get any cuter? I think not.
Lone Pine is not just koalas though. They have a few other Australian animals as well. There is a little enclosure you can go into where you can hand feed some kangaroos and wallabies (who are also cute by the way).
I would love to know what these cute little wallabies are thinking.
That guy in behind me had no interest in the fact I was there. At one point he actually almost walked right through me to get where he was going.
No idea where they all came from. No idea where they were going. No idea why they were just standing there. What I do know is that being caught in a kangaroo stampede is a little unnerving.
They do a full demonstration showing how sheep dogs are used to move sheep around. And then they pick one and do a sheep shearing demonstration. Although numbers have dropped in recent years, sheep and wool.....still big business in Queensland.
This is a Lorikeet. Very often seen bird around here.
Wouldn't be Australia without a few crocodiles.
I tried to get a picture of the dancers (after the show of course) but it is hard to take good pictures when you are trying to hide your camera.
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