Cuddling a Koala

I want to take this guy home with me!!!

OMG, I had the best time time ever at the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary in Brisbane. This is the World's first and largest sanctuary and it has been opened since 1927.  It was necessary to open this sanctuary as the Australians hunted these little guys for their pelt almost to extinction in the early 1920's. It started with two koalas name Jack and Jill and today they have over 130 koalas.  I got to take a picture cuddling one and I asked about them.  I know they are loners and they sleep most of the day so how can you take pictures with them and some even share the same "tree"?  I was told that each koala they use for pictures are actually trained for this and they only worked for 30 minutes a day.  They have 40 of the koalas they use for taking pictures so it is an easy job for them. The sanctuary has about 11 acres of land and is spread out.  It is clean and very natural.  It is self funded and all proceeds go back into taking care of the animals and improving the grounds. Except for the young ones born there most of the animals have been hurt and brought to the sanctuary. The biggest problem for them is being hit by cars and urban building taking away their natural habitat.  They talk about planting the different variety of eucalyptus trees in the back yard if you are a resident so the koala have more places to roam. Very interesting program.  They also have wombats, Tasmanian devils (which are given that name because they can eat 40% of their weight in minutes!!), Lorikeets, (a kind of parrot), sheepdogs (Rex and Hunter they put on an awesome show), birds of prey, platypus, kangaroos and wallabies and of course barn animals. I really had a great time, I wished my family was here as I know they would have loved it!!  Here are my pictures:

Lorikeet (parrots) feeding

Rex the sheep dog with his sheep

Another koala

A dingo

A barn owl

Sea Eagle

Young koalas playing!!!

A wombat

A mama kangaroo see her pouch !!

Yea, he stuck his head out!!!

A selfie with a Roo

Life Challenge: Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you'll start having positive results...  Willie Nelson