Guardian Australia | Teenage koala lost in supermarket @GuardianAustralia | Uploaded September 2024 | Updated October 2024, 1 day ago.
A koala has surprised customers and staff in a regional IGA supermarket after he wandered through the store’s front doors and made his way up and down the aisles.
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Kaelene Shervell, owner of the Meeniyan IGA about two hours south of Melbourne, said the koala was determined to come inside and resisted staff attempts to encourage him back out the front door.
The furry marsupial, which staff said was a teenage male, then spent 20 minutes wandering the store. Images from the IGA showed him climbing the newspaper stand, exploring the herb selection and reaching for soft toys on display.
“It was … a pretty awesome experience,” Shervell said. “But we were very, very concerned for his welfare and trying not to get too excited and [maintain] a calm situation.”
Koalas are frequent visitors to the town of Meeniyan, population 840, but it's the first time one has entered the local supermarket.
Dr Bill Ellis, a koala ecologist from the University of Queensland, said that deforestation was likely to play a role in driving koalas to irregular locations, due to the “squeeze on [them] for space”.
“Koalas are having to make do in smaller patches … [with] the habitats becoming more and more fragmented, and so they are turning up in quite unusual places because they really don’t have anywhere else to go,” he said.
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A koala has surprised customers and staff in a regional IGA supermarket after he wandered through the store’s front doors and made his way up and down the aisles.
Subscribe to Guardian Australia on YouTube and hit the bell to see new videos ► bit.ly/gdnaustraliasubs
Kaelene Shervell, owner of the Meeniyan IGA about two hours south of Melbourne, said the koala was determined to come inside and resisted staff attempts to encourage him back out the front door.
The furry marsupial, which staff said was a teenage male, then spent 20 minutes wandering the store. Images from the IGA showed him climbing the newspaper stand, exploring the herb selection and reaching for soft toys on display.
“It was … a pretty awesome experience,” Shervell said. “But we were very, very concerned for his welfare and trying not to get too excited and [maintain] a calm situation.”
Koalas are frequent visitors to the town of Meeniyan, population 840, but it's the first time one has entered the local supermarket.
Dr Bill Ellis, a koala ecologist from the University of Queensland, said that deforestation was likely to play a role in driving koalas to irregular locations, due to the “squeeze on [them] for space”.
“Koalas are having to make do in smaller patches … [with] the habitats becoming more and more fragmented, and so they are turning up in quite unusual places because they really don’t have anywhere else to go,” he said.
#environment #koalas #news #Australia
Follow the Australia news live blog for the latest updates ► theguardian.com/australia-news/series/australian-news-live/latest?CMP=gdnaus_yt
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The Guardian ► bit.ly/guardiannewssubs
Guardian News ► bit.ly/guardiannewssubs
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