In the rankings of iconic Aussie animals, koalas are pretty high up there. But I have to admit: while they’re cute, koalas do inexplicably scare me a little. I think it’s the ears. And now my mild fear has been validated by footage of a koala full-on jumping at a woman in the Gold Coast.
I’m terrified, you’re terrified, we’re all terrified. A TikToker first captured the vid, which was then reshared by 9News.
KOALA ATTACK: An unusual video has emerged of a koala chasing a woman after getting too close to it on the Gold Coast. 🐨
The iconic animal can be seen jumping towards her, which sees the woman fall backwards. #9News pic.twitter.com/cbem29cvyn
— 9News Australia (@9NewsAUS) August 5, 2022
In the video, the woman bends down to the koala before she then goes to walk away. As she starts walking away, the koala both chases her AND jumps up at her. It’s frankly fkn scary. They have claws!
She then falls over, which I would also do if a koala (!!!) randomly went for me.
It’s unclear exactly why the woman was approaching the koala, though it seems like it was potentially stranded on the side of the road.
If she was trying to help the koala out then bloody good on her because not gonna lie, it’s absolutely giving dropbear.
Speaking to Yahoo News, the Australian Koala Foundation CEO Deborah Tabert gave some hot tips for people trying to rescue koalas from the road.
“It’s always important to protect you first and that helps protect the koalas as well,” she said.
She also explained that koalas “naturally want to climb”, so it’s a good idea to have a pair of sturdy gloves in the back of your car.
“The best way to grab them is to pick them up by their hands, almost like a monkey so they can’t actually grip onto you.
“It’s always good to have a towel that you can put over them too, then you can just put it over them and scoop them up.”
For any Americans who think koalas are cuddly little teddy bears: here’s the proof. They demand respect, and also caution, and maybe just a touch of fear.
