'Sad' reality behind 'cute' koala photo: 'See the bigger picture'
While koalas in public settings might seem cute, there's often a bleak story behind it.
"Gorgeous." "Cute." They're just two of the online responses to a koala photographed at a petrol station off a busy highway in Victoria's southwest.
It's an all too common reaction across Australia when the iconic marsupial is spotted in everyday settings. But for wildlife advocates in the area, the assessment from those gazing on in delight, after the photo was widely shared on Facebook, couldn't be further from the truth.
"I just look at that picture and I think just how sad it is," local resident and koala activist Helen Oakley told Yahoo News Australia. In the photo a man and young girl stand nearby, while a man fills up his car. All three seem unconcerned about the koala's location.
Helen said the encounter was in fact tragic, and those who believed the koala was leisurely sauntering through town were naive about the grave problems koalas were facing in the region.
She said there has been a vast removal of koala habitat in the town of Portland over the last several years, leading to more and more koala sightings in public places and sadly by busy roads. She says it's led to a significant drop in koala numbers in the area and called on the local council and state government to do more to protect those that remain.
Despite widespread harvesting of koala-inhabited plantations across the state, koalas in Victoria are not yet listed as endangered like they are in NSW and Queensland.
Australians need to see 'the bigger picture'
Helen says some wrongly believe if they're seeing koalas out and about in the street, they must be thriving.
"They're on the ground looking for their tree that's been chainsawed," she told Yahoo. "It's really hard for people to see the bigger picture. They just go 'oh, there's a cute little koala let's take photos'," she said.
Helen recalled one incident where she spotted a group of people taking photos of a koala in the middle of a road. "They waved me on saying they had it all under control. I pulled a big doona from my boot and carried the koala to the side of the road."
Last year, Helen took video of a koala up a power pole after nearby trees had been chopped down by council. Glenelg Council said the trees were removed due to structural concerns and would be replaced at a later date. Helen revealed the trees installed were ornamental pear trees and were not suitable habitat for koalas.
There are fears the approval of a new Bunnings store in the town, located near to the petrol station where the koala was photographed, could lead to the displacement of more koalas.
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