| Lonely Planet™ · Thorn Tree Forum · 2020 | |
Koalas and Kangaroos in the wildCountry forums / Australia, New Zealand & Antarctica / Australia | ||
Where can I find koalas and kangaroos in the wild ? | ||
I would have suggested Kennett River on the Great Ocean Road but you'd probably want to leave that for a bit to have a better chance as the area around it, if not the site itself , has been burnt out in a bushfire. Halls Gap would be another option but is worth remembering that most Koala and even kangaroo activity is at night particularly during warm summers. In terms of the videos you posted I am not sure about the 'wild nature' of them. What you are looking at there is not usual koala behavior in the first and last video so hardly 'in the wild'. Koalas have little reason to be on the ground except when they have no alternative way to move between trees. | 1 | |
Kangaroo Island for kangaroos and wallabys, | 2 | |
If you are going to Sydney you could try Pittwater YHA where you will certainly see wallabies. It's a lovely place to visit - cheap and great for day walks, scenery and not far from Sydney CBD. Gunnedah in NSW is supposed to be the koala capital of ... well, of NSW at least. | 3 | |
Raymond Island for koalas, in Victoria. Kangaroos anywhere really out of the cities. | 4 | |
Just north of Sydney, is the town of Morisset on the shores of Lake Macquarie. 2 hours by direct hourly train from Central Railway (ca. $6 one way on train, less on Sundays) there are many kangaroos wandering the parklands. The kangaroos are friendly and calm. Morisset is still a bit of a secret, although increasing in popularity as a low price day trip from Sydney (especially on Sunday with the $2.50 all day railway and bus "opal" tickets) | 5 | |
What places can you access OP? | 6 | |
Lake Conjola Entrance caravan park is positively infested with kangaroos - you will trip over them going to the showers at night. Canberra also has plenty, likely to hop out in front of your car at any moment. The only place I have seen wild koalas in Australia is at Cape Otway, off the Great Ocean Road, but not sure how easy it would be to access that one at present. | 7 | |
Koalas can be difficult to find when you're looking for them.. I've been to known koala hang outs , Anna bay and magnetic island, and just never had luck, have seen them completely randomly at other times though, including walking on the ground, just 6 foot away, between trees.. that was in warrandyte, a suburb of melbourne. I highly recommend healsville sanctuary , a bus and train ride from melbourne to see koalas up close, and lots of other native wildlife. Kangaroos you will see everywhere if you are driving the countryside.. | 8 | |
I live in the southern hills of the Adelaide metro area. Cheers, | 9 | |
Many thanks for all replies. | 10 | |
There are no koalas at all in Western Australia, except in zoos or wildlife parks.... | 11 | |
Pebbly Beach and Depot Beach in the Murramarang National Park near Batemans Bay are famous for their surfing Kangaroos. OK they don't actually surf but you will see them on the beach every morning at sunrise and every evening at sunset. It is also one of the most beautiful spots on the New South Wales south coast.Depot Beach Kangaroos | 12 | |
I have wallabies coming into my back yard every night. Mrs Raki yells at me for giving them carrots as she says that after eating the carrots they eat her roses and everything else. I have always liked the stories of Saki- "The gardeners had told the Prince that you couldn't have pigs and flowers, so he decided to have pigs and no flowers." I have wallabies and no roses......... | 13 | |
Koalas are mean and nasty. And very whiney. | 14 | |
Apparently you don't even need to leave Sydney suburbs at times to see kangaroos: Wallaby bounds through Chatswood. Chatswood is about as inner-suburban as it gets in Sydney. Interesting to note that they live in Lane Cove National Park. If you looked at a map of Sydney you would see how comparatively close these suburbs are to the City. | 15 | |
Well there was a koala in my garden (in Port Macquarie) yesterday afternoon. Screaming its head off (sounded like a wounded cat). At the top of a fairly flimsy tree. It was very windy, so maybe it was scared. The males do make a very loud noise at night to mark their territory, like a donkey or a pig, but screaming is unusual. They are often hard to see though. We do have a koala hospital in town too. Plenty of grey kangaroos around here as well. Diamond Head camping ground in Crowdy Bay National Park is a good place to see them. | 16 | |
The Tasmanian Government tried to introduce koalas into Tasmania in the 1830's as a source of food for settlers lost in the bush. They brought in several pairs, put them in gum trees, and waited for them to spread. A month or two later they were all dead of starvation as Tasmania had the wrong kind of gum trees! | 17 | |
^ ha! | 18 | |
Hello, regarding the Kangaroos in Morisset, i read this article that says that they were infected by a parasite. http://www.theherald.com.au/story/2110346/parasite-attacks-morisset-kangaroos-poll/ Are they still ill or is it now safe to see them in Morisett? Nik | 19 | |
This topic has been automatically locked due to inactivity. Email community@lonelyplanet.com if you would like to add to this topic and we'll unlock it for you. | 20 | |