Koala
Male, saved himself
Adelaide Hills
Koala
I love my tree
 
                      
Koala (Phascolarctos cinereus ssp victor)Class: Animals (Animalia) - Chordates (Chordata) - Mammals (Mammalia)
Order: Kangaroos & Wombats (Diprotodontia)
Family: Koala (Phascolarctidae)     iNaturalist Observation
Species: Koala (Phascolarctos cinereus ssp victor)
This Photo:     🔍Male, retreating🔎

Thank you Terra Occ for confirming the id of this species for us

General Species Information:
Found in the Adelaide Hills and possibly elsewhere
While considered cute and cuddly, wild animals should not be approached. Animals that people hold in zoo's are tame. As with any large wild animal, they can inflict severe injuries if cornered. Having said that, they are not openly aggressive.
A male's mating call is a loud, deep, sickening sound. It's a much bigger sound than their size suggests. This is on purpose; the ladies like their boys to be big, so the boys oblige

They love stringy bark gum trees.
We also often see them walking on the roads through the Adelaide Hills.

You may think we've made a mistake ... of course Koala's aren't introduced! Well, yes they were; locally at least. Introduced to the Adelaide Hills in the middle of last century. So while an Australian native, not a native where these photo's were taken.
This can be related to Cootamundra Wattle. A NSW native, now an "introduced" weed species in the Adelaide Hills.
Similarly, can you image the destruction this species has caused to the local native environs. It's not their fault of course, should never have been located there in the first place. But Tourism is a powerful motivator in our Society.

Copyright © 2011-2024 Brett & Marie Smith. All Rights Reserved. Photographed 19-Dec-2011
This species is classed as Ir (Regionally Introduced)