Australia - Koalas, Roos and Cockatoos!

Here are some Koalas, Kangaroos and Cockatoos that I saw on our recent trip to Australia.


Koala



Koala

Koala

 This Koala is in the Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve.  There is a protected Eucalyptus Forest that contains 9 Koalas.  We walked the main path in the 48 acre Eucalyptus Forest and only saw this guy.  He is a recent arrival who was brought in from another forest to increase the Koala population.  Sadly a wildfire in January 2003 destroyed the reserve and killed 24 Koalas.  A new group of Koalas have been introduced and with successful breeding the population is up to 9 Koalas.  This guy is in an open air enclosure for observation until he is released into the Eucalyptus Forest.  We searched the trees high and low for Koalas but they can blend in so well and frankly 48 acres contains a lot of Eucalyptus trees.  We were the only ones on the trail, so there was no help spotting Koalas from rangers or fellow tourists.  So I was very happy to photograph this fellow and he was very active when we approached him.  In my previous encounters with Koalas, they were always asleep and or presented their backside.  So I was surprised to see this guy eat, walk around and jump from one branch to another.  Since he is the "new man on campus" I thought there might be some girlfriends sitting in the nearby trees checking him out, but no such luck.  Soon he will be released into the Eucalyptus Forest and hopefully more baby Koalas in the near future.

Koala



Koala

Koala

Driving along the road we saw a troop of Kangaroos doing what most animals do, sleep eat and scratch.

Eastern Grey Kangaroos

Then something happened and they all started hopping to the right.  It had a Jurassic park quality as the hopped in near unison.

Then they all stopped at the same time.  It's like they were playing musical chairs and the music stopped.

Sulphur Crested Cockatoo

Nearly everywhere we went, we saw and heard Cockatoos.  They can squawk really loud as they fly.