Koala forced to jump into water by 'rowdy' tourists at holiday resort town
The somewhat dramatic scene unfolded near a crowded wine bar on the Aussie holiday resort town of Paynesville.
Why did the koala wander past the wine bar?
That's the question diners were asking themselves on Friday night after a young, male marsupial was spotted in the holiday resort town of Paynesville, situated near Raymond Island in Victoria. And despite their "well meaning" attempts to assist the koala in an area where the animals are "rarely" seen, their efforts likely caused the animal to become even more spooked.
"We had a very hypothermic, very cold, very stressed little koala on our hands after it jumped into the water," rescuer Shelley Robinson, from Koalas of Raymond Island (KORI) told Yahoo News Australia.
Koala 'jumped' into water to flee 'rowdy' crowd
After diners tried to usher the koala onto the ferry and back towards Raymond Island, which is a known koala habitat, the distressed animal jumped into the freezing cold water by the ferry to flee the "rowdy" crowd. Shelley received a phone call then, and she rushed to the site with other rescuers.
"Koalas can swim but not overly well," Shelley explained. "That's where the ferry docks so it's a really high wall of a few metres, so he couldn't get out."
Shelley explained people, loud noises and even dogs can cause koalas to flee towards the water.
The koala had managed to climb onto a ferry buffer to shelter and the team commenced a three-hour search for a boat, which they finally secured. However due to the koala's position, a rescuer eventually had to wade through the water with a handheld net to safely capture the animal.
"I went onto the boat, Lachie ended up in the water with his rescue nets... the main problem was we had to block him [the koala] so he didn't end up in the water again," Shelley said. "Between the two of us we managed to net him and get him."
Friday night's rescue was within metres of the docked ferry and while certainly an uncommon scene at the popular tourist spot, a similar rescue effort unfolded in November after a ferry master found a koala aboard his boat.
Rescuer's plea to 'well intentioned' Aussies
In wake of the rescue, Shelley is now urging people to call KORI for assistance when a koala appears distressed or disorientated. The team would much prefer to attend a site where their help wasn't ultimately needed than not be notified when an animal did require their help, she said.
"We don't care, ring us 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We'll go out, we'll assess it, and we'll make that decision," she said.
"[On Friday] the well intentioned people all came out of the wine bar, we had an audience, it's not a great situation."
The koala, who has since been nicknamed Frankie, is expected to make a full recovery and be released this week.
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