KOALAS are just cool looking animals.

I recently attended an entomological conference in Adelaide, South Australia. This was my first time to the southern state of Australia and i passed a very pleasant time getting to know the city. AND I saw wild koalas for the first time! I know this sounds strange, i see emus and kangaroo and all manner of australian animals on a regular basis but koalas are restricted to the east coast of Australia. They never made it across the great deserts separating Western Australia from the rest of the country. We were driving down from the Adelaide hills and i saw a sign warning of koalas crossing the road and i made the comment that i had never seen a koala in the wild.
 
The area around us was Cleland Conservation Park and just as i had made the comment my companion said he just spotted one in a tree and then i spotted another one! we managed to stop and they didnt seem to mind us taking photos of them (they sleep 16 hours of the day). it seemed silly but i was very excited to see them, especially since they are threatened on the east coast by land clearing and wildfires, and chlamydia infections (they re a promiscuous lot apparently). after so many years being in oz, finally seeing wild koalas was very nice. we dont get platypus on the west coast either so thats my next goal.