Meeting the Locals

Last Updated on Sunday, 13 December 2009 23:00 Written by Andrew Lai Friday, 11 December 2009 03:37

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"...Sometimes back home it is easy for us to forget about or disregard the other animals who inhabit this earth. We go about our daily lives and many of us are not fortunate to have nearby sanctuaries among the likes of Lone Pine..."

By Roxy Bischoff

One of the first places of interest I’d heard about upon my arrival was the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, a mere 11 kilometres (two quick bus rides) outside of downtown Brisbane. The first and largest koala sanctuary in the world, their motto “the earth is not only for humans” perhaps pulls us out of the anthropocentric society we’re used to and reminds us of the other beauties Australia has to offer.

Sometimes back home it is easy for us to forget about or disregard the other animals who inhabit this earth. We go about our daily lives and many of us are not fortunate to have nearby sanctuaries among the likes of Lone Pine. A sanctuary like Lone Pine gives you an experience rare among zoos. In wildlife sanctuaries, animals are provided a safe haven in their natural environment and their needs come first. If you want to see some of the beautiful wildlife Australia has to offer, Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary is the place to go.

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When thinking about the land down under; kangaroos, koalas, emus, and the Aussie love for wildlife are some of the first things that come to mind. Although I’ve only been here a few weeks, thus far in my travels there is nowhere to better experience these amazing creatures than at Lone Pine. Lone Pine was a spur the moment trip we decided to take on a Monday afternoon and although we were not sure if we’d have enough time to see everything, a few hours proved to be just enough. There’s so much more to see besides koalas and it felt like we were there for much longer. There is an open field with over 130 kangaroos and wallabies that you can easily walk up to and pet, feed, or lie down with and take a picture next to. We were a bit nervous to approach them at first, but soon realized how calm and relaxed they were around us. There were also “heaps” of joeys! Some were so big, but still hopped in their mother’s pouch with their long legs poking out. In the free range enclosure, several emus roamed side by side with the ‘roos and were surprisingly friendly.

After visiting the kangaroos and wallabies, we saw koalas, many types of birds, bats, dingoes, a Tasmanian devil, wombats, lizards, and crocodiles. Being an early evening on a Monday, it wasn’t too crowded and felt nice to walk around the park without bumping into people every few feet. There were koalas everywhere you looked. The main althub of koalas is Koala Kingdom, but apart from that, they are split up into “Young Ladies”, “Mums & Babies” (probably my favourite exhibit), “Retirement Home”, “Boys”, “Beautiful Brides”, “Bachelor Pad”, “Kindy” (kindergarten), and “Southern Koalas”. You can also hold or “cuddle” a koala and get your picture professionally taken! Although it costs money, I highly recommend it. I don’t know how anyone could resist these little “bears” anyways. I held a young female koala named Petal. While I was holding her, however, the male koalas began making loud mating calls and she became extremely excited and wanted to see them! Everyone else had fairly calm holding experiences though, which made for some great photos.

There are many events that take place during the day as well. Because we didn’t arrive until a little after 2pm (the sanctuary opens at 8:30am and closes at 5pm), we’d missed most of the shows, but were still around for the colourful lorikeet feeding which was quite neat. I’ve also heard their bird of prey free flight show is really impressive and they have snake and crocodile holding, sheep dog shows, wombat presentations, and much more (next time!). I highly recommend visiting Lone Pine if you are in the area. Whether you’ve seen all the animals already or not, it’s an experience you won’t forget!

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