Brisbane’s oldest koala sanctuary, Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, captured the world’s attention recently when it announced it would cease koala holds to promote awareness of koala conservation.
The action was in response to strong visitor feedback that it was unnecessary to cuddle the koalas.
“Just do what they do best — eating, sleeping, and relaxing within their own space.”
Lyndon Discombe, the General Manager of Lone Pine said they were glad to see tourists’ emerging awareness of animal welfare.
Studies have shown that koalas become stressed even in close proximity to humans, according to Dr Jennifer Ford, Zoologist and animal welfare expert.
“Observing these encounters, I saw was several koalas showing clear signs of distress, not wanting to be removed from their branch, being handled by the public in a noisy, unnatural environment,” she said.
Many years ago, to preserve the precious marsupial species, the NSW and VIC Government has already legislated the prohibition of koala cuddles, the iconic and must-do Aussie experience, for the whole states around 1997.
Regarding other sanctuaries in Queensland, they also took actions to somehow boycott the event of handling koalas through increasing the fee.
“Although I haven’t experienced koala encounter, I still agree with complete ban on holding koalas because it can reduce their risks of getting depression and save the species,” exchange student Mia Ming said.
International student Sarah Hwang respond that she supports the action and said, “if humans were koalas, they would definitely not like to be cuddled and touched by lots of people.”
The institution of World Animal Protection is dedicated to advocating removing the cruel activity, hoping to stop koalas’ “silent suffering.”
“The future of wildlife tourism is seeing wild animals in the wild where they belong. Tourists are increasingly moving away from outdated, stressful selfie encounters. The Queensland tourism industry needs to respond to these changes now,” said Suzanne Milthorpe, Head of Campaigns at World Animal Protection Australia.