Hi, I’m Haruka!
I live in a zoo, and study with koalas.
Nathan campus of Griffith University is the place where I live and study.
This campus is surrounded by rich forest which is also home for enormous numbers of wildlife such as birds, possums, bush turkeys, snakes…etc.
Many of those animals have surprised me, such as possums popping out from a rubbish bins or that time a kookaburra kidnapped my sandwich.
Out of all, one of the most surprising encounters for me was ….. wild KOALAS!
I have already encountered this iconic Australian animal on campus 3 times.
Let me tell you how & where I met them so that you can see them too 😉
It surprized me when I saw something fuzzy in the tree in front of my flat.
It was… a peacefully sleeping koala o_0
Koala asleep in the tree outside my flat.
I couldn’t believe my eyes as I’d thought it is something we’d only see at a zoo.
The sleepy koala enjoyed nap time for a while, then moved to the next sleeping spot…
Sleepy koala getting ready to move to his next napping spot.
You really don’t expect to be studying in your room while watching cute stuff like this X)!
The second encounter was on the road between the campus and the accommodation area.
When I was going home from the campus at night, I saw something crossing the road like possums or cats. Then realized it was a koala again!
Yes, they DO WALK on the ground so casually especially at night.
I got surer about the idea at the third encounter.
Guess where I met the third one??
Right in the middle of the campus.
On his own campus tour 😉
That koala was casually walking and seemed to be enjoying his night campus tour. He did not care about me at all although I was standing just a metre away, and even surprised the security officers.
The map below marks the spots where I met my cute neighbours.
Nathan campus koala sightings.
Red stars show the place I saw koalas, and yellow stars are the place where my friends saw them.
As far as I hear from other friends’ experiences, koalas tend to be more active from spring to summer.
Cute possum in a tree at Nathan campus.
My campus is in a forest, and sometimes life is like living in a zoo.
But it is not so bad if we get to have such cute neighbours don’t you think 😉 ?
Bush turkey on North Path.
Have you seen a koala? Tell us where in the comments below! And if you want to learn more about our local bush and the animals that live in it (with us!) register to join a Griffith Mates Bush Care event.
– Haruka
Update! Haruka captured this video of a koala in the accommodation at Nathan campus. She was asked by security to leave 😉
Learn more about the biodiversity at Griffith University here.
