2020 December: Koala found on Apollo Bay Beach

Koala delights Apollo Bay beachgoers, but wildlife carer says it was in a panic

https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/koala-delights-apollo-bay-beachgoers-but-wildlife-carer-says-it-was-in-a-panic/ar-BB1cmKX1

31/12/20

Surfing and wildlife spotting are two popular pastimes along Victoria’s Great Ocean Road, but rarely are the two enjoyed at the same time.

That all changed for an excited crowd at the Apollo Bay main beach, west of Melbourne, after a koala made its way along the sand and at one point sat in the water.

Amateur photographer Kim Bedford was on hand with her family when the marsupial emerged from trees in nearby sand dunes.

“Lucky I happened to have my big camera out,” Ms Bedford said on Instagram.

“Amazing scenes at Apollo Bay — a koala just coming down to check out the waves.”

Koalas and surfing — independent of each other — are big business for the south-western Victorian coastal hotspot.

The region sits sheltered in Cape Otway, on the lowest slopes of the Otway Ranges.

Apollo Bay’s beaches, described by locals as “paradise by the sea”, attract thousands of holidaymakers each year while further north lies a number of rainforests, where the region’s marsupials are more commonly found.

Ms Bedford’s koala was snapped the day before New Year’s Eve, prompting an outpouring for adoration on social media.

One viewer commented, “Can’t get much more Australian than that” while another labelled it “the best pic of 2020”.

Carer says animal was in a ‘bad spot’

But wildlife carer Tracey Wilson, who has looked after hundreds of koalas at her animal sanctuary in south-west Victoria, said the animal may have been quite “stressed”

Ms Wilson said she had never heard of a koala actively going to the beach, but that finding them in places you wouldn’t expect was becoming more common.

“It’s mainly due to a lack of natural habitat, development and town planning that could be done better,” Ms Wilson said.

Ms Wilson’s animal shelter helped rehabilitate dozens of koalas that were found emaciated on a south-west Victorian timber plantation in February.

She said koalas were common in the Otway Ranges, but that it was hard to know why one would wander to the beach.

“They have very poor eyesight, so it was probably just trying to get away.

“I think it’s just ended up in a bad spot, and the fact it had a lot of people following and watching it has stressed it out really badly and it’s ended up in panic mode.”

It is thought the koala made its way back to nearby forest later in the day.