Wild koala surprises canoeists by hitching a ride

Members of the Burleigh Point Outrigger Canoe Club were shocked last week after a wild koala decided to join them for a boat ride.

The group was paddling down a Tallebudgera Creek on Australia’s Gold Coast when the animal spotted them from the bank and hopped in the water. After a short swim, the koala made its way into the boat and took over one of the seats.

The club member who posted video of the incident on YouTube called it “a stunning, magical encounter.”

What an amazing up close and personal moment

“Amazing to us that he looked at us from the water’s edge, then decided to swim over to our canoe to say hello,” Peter Ando wrote. “Completely at ease? with us. Considering there were 12 of us in a twin hull 45ft outrigger canoe, totally mind-blowing. The koala was completely wild.”

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It's good to see that his trust in those canoeists was not misplaced! He is a courageous fellow at the least and when you see something like this you can't deny they are worth great efforts to protect.

That little bugger just made me all mushy on the inside cute buggers.

If anyone can find some more videos with encounters like these, no matter the animal, I'd like to see so post them!

OP, great post.

reply to post by DancedWithWolves


koala: Hey they look like they are having fun i think i will see what they are up too.

Koala: hey where are the beers bro's

Koala: dibs on this seat ahahah. What why are you all looking at me?

Wow that little guy is so cute! But honestly, how can anyone be THAT bad with a camera? I mean seriously, that has to be the worst filming I've seen in a long time. That ruined the entire video just about, as we didn't get to see the animal's reaction to the guy trying to pet it, among other things. But anyway, bad cameraman aside, that was simply amazing.

I wonder how he thought he was going to get into the boat, since he obviously couldn't have done it on his own? Maybe he just thought he would figure it out once he got there. I have no experience with these animals, and know nothing about them, but it still surprises me that they can swim. Well, they are mammals aren't they? lol. Can you approach these animals in the wild? They seem very laid back and relaxed, but any wild animal is still wild, therefore I'm not sure if someone could approach one in the bush and try to cuddle with it. I sure would like to have one of those guys around my house, but I have a feeling that is probably illegal. And I would bet they would poop all over the place, and just be a bad pet overall. Plus, no wild animal wants to become a pet. At least I don't think so, unless the new environment is just way better than the wild environment they came from.

I am just guessing that this animal was a rescue animal that had been released.

It certainly has been around humans as it was completely at ease.

Or maybe it was trying to escape a predator. I dunno lol

reply to post by DancedWithWolves


Very cool - S&F - thanks for posting.

That is an extremely rare event - something that you will never see again.

Koalas are normally very reserved and don't spend much time out of their natural habitat - Eucalyptus trees.

Didn't even know that they could swim to be honest.

If I had to hazzard a guess, I would say he's a local koala that's been spooked by something - maybe a domestic cat chasing him out of a tree or something and he's trying to get away. This is a reasonably built up area, so he would be use to seeing humans.

Thanks again

* Ned

reply to post by nimbinned


Local? As in not there on vacation?

What a wonderful experience! I would have been just enchanted with the little guy! Do they let you pick them up? Do they normally bite? Are they normally that friendly? I don't know much about koalas.

reply to post by Night Star


It is a pretty rare thing, even the domestic ones you see in wildlife parks are pretty averse to human contact.
Imagine an opossum's claws or even a cats x10 and you'd be getting close. They are a like a bunch of razors, and they can get pretty nasty, despite the fact they look cute.

I've never seen one swim before, they tend to stick to high trees and are pretty hard to spot as they don't move much.

I'd go with Ned on this one and say something either spooked it or it was running from a predator, most likely a feral cat or dog. Why he would swim across to a boat though kind of eludes me, they can move pretty fast when needed.

reply to post by DancedWithWolves


What I found hilarious in the comments section.

"What they didn't show, obviously, is when the guy that got scratched when he pulled this Koala into the canoe, turning into a WereKoala Bear later that night, and then killing everyone with the intense cuteness known to be associated with that affliction."

Death by cuteness... Never heard of that one before.

Cool vid!

reply to post by 74Templar


I guess I would never have thought of that. Geesh.

Nice video..... cute koala.

Not so cute when they come at your face, slightly crispy from a bushfire.

They can move quickly when they want to, beautiful animal..... with nasty claws.

Mickierocksman

reply to post by TDawgRex


And thus the legend of the Drop Bear is born....

Originally posted by bourbon2nite
reply to post by 74Templar

 

I guess I would never have thought of that. Geesh.

Are you being serious or just sarcastic? I can't tell....

He just wanted someone to chill with I guess

Originally posted by FidelityMusic
If anyone can find some more videos with encounters like these, no matter the animal, I'd like to see so post them!

OP, great post.

This always comes to mind when i think about how nice humanity can be.

Four deer rescued from alaskan waters

the top youtube comment is funny..

-i wish i lived in australia- lol

i live in australia and i have seen 1 koala...in a zoo.
people think we have them in our backyards running around lol

Beautiful animals ( viewed from afar ). You can see many in the wild in bush land on the mighty Murray river. A favoured past time while camping, koala spotting. This would be a very rare event for one to approach humans. sadly probably spooked by some other animal. Would not like to mess with one up close. Cute critters though s&f

reply to post by The X


Thanks for that story, I appreciate it. I actually had a dream about this Koala video, my dream just added what the video didn't show, them taking the Koala to a nice open piece of land so he can make his way home.

Now let's see where my dreams take me tonight with this story.