Answer to the above question:
While cuddling a koala might seem like a cute idea, it’s not advisable and getting peed on is a possibility. Here’s why:
- Stressful for Koalas: Koalas are not cuddly animals by nature. They are solitary creatures and being held can be stressful for them. When stressed, animals sometimes eliminate waste.
- Poor Bladders: Koalas don’t have great bladder control. They urinate infrequently and tend to release small amounts at a time. This means there’s a higher chance of them urinating while being held.
Here’s what to do instead:
- Observe from a distance: Appreciate koalas in their natural habitat or reputable sanctuaries where their well-being is prioritized.
- Support conservation efforts: There are many organizations dedicated to koala conservation. You can help by donating or volunteering your time.
Changes afoot
Although cuddling a koala was an incredibly popular pastime and I suspect still is in some places, a koala sanctuary in Brisbane (see below) has decided to stop koala-cuddling; a change which has been supported by visitors because they said that they would prefer to pat and feed the marsupials while watching them behave naturally. Animal rangers will be on hand to help visitors.
The rite of passage of koala cuddling is finally coming to an end. Koalas are a very cuddly animal. People instinctively want to cuddle them but koalas are also solitary, nocturnal and would rather hug a tree than a human according to The Times article that I’m reading. It is the reason why I asked the question in the title. I suspect that many people who have cuddled koalas have been peed on. I was peed on when cuddling a coyote pup.
The late Duke of Edinburgh, a man who spoke his mind and called a spade a spade, refused to cuddle a koala on a 1992 visit saying that he feared catching “some ghastly disease”. He probably also feared being peed upon!
The truth of the matter is that close encounters between koala and people is unwise because it causes stress in koalas. The general manager of the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary at Fig Tree Pocket said that his focus had “always been on the welfare of the animals”.
Lyndon Discombe told The Courier Mail: “Our guests want to have more time to make the experience more immersive.”
Around 25,000 visitors visit the sanctuary annually and watch them eat eucalyptus leaves. Koala cuddling is already banned and zoos in New South Wales, Tasmania and Victoria and also in the Northern Territory.
It’s best to watched koalas in the wild. It’s best to leave animals in the wild. To give them space. To leave them alone. It is very pleasant for me to see this general trend against treating wild animals as cuddly toys if you like. It’s the beginning of a trend I hope towards leaving them alone and even doing away with zoos.
That said, some animal lovers disagree. The former Queensland president of the Zoo and Aquarium Association, Al Mucci, said that he believes that koalas enjoy being handled and that there is some evidence to support that.
The problem – the underlying problem – is that the koala population is in a steep decline because of habitat destruction by people, bushfires (perhaps enhanced by global warming), drought and disease. I would suggest, respectively, that a lot if not all of these problems emanate from human behaviour one way and another. Koalas are officially listed as endangered along much of the east coast of Australia. There are as few as 50,000 left in the wild.
Their presence at zoos and sanctuaries is worth an estimated £1.7 billion to the tourist industry in Australia. You can see the problem. They’ve been used as an asset to make money. Times are changing.
