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Loading...Stolen Koala Found in Parking Lot After Two Days (VIDEO)
A 13-year-old koala, Banjo, was stolen from an enclosure in the Australian Reptile Park near Sydney, Australia, on Monday night. Zoo officials said Banjo’s abduction was the “first ever koala heist” in Australia, as the New York Daily News puts it. On Wednesday afternoon, someone called the park and said that Banjo was in the parking lot. Zoo personnel rushed out and found Banjo in a plastic waste container with a milk crate over him.
Click here for a video of Banjo being reunited with his keepers.
The Daily Telegraph reports that Banjo, while shaken and slightly dehydrated, is doing all right.
Officials were especially concerned about Banjo as he had only recently come to the Reptile Park from a zoo on the Gold Coast, to increase the genetic diversity of the park’s breeding program. Koalas “stress easily” and can “take a long time to adjust to new surroundings,” says the Daily Telegraph. As Banjo — who is quite old in koala years; koalas live about ten years in the wild, about 15 in captivity — had lost weight during the move and was being fed a supplementary paste besides his usual diet of eucalyptus leaves.
General manager Mary Rayner said that Banjo was being kept in his own enclosure “because we were concerned about him and we wanted him to get used to his new home before we introduced him to any females.” She and other zoo officials are unsure as to why anyone would have wanted to steal Banjo.
Here’s hoping he has a speedy recovery and settles nicely into his life at the park.
Read more: abduction, animal welfare, animals, australia, banjo, koala, zoo
Photo from drbakker via flickr
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+ add your ownI don't think the eucalyptus tree I have in my yard would prove palatable to the little fellow so he best stay in the zoo...although he is the cutest little animal.
Crazy people, so glad he is back home!!
a happy ending
I probably couldn't help myself either to have one,but I couldn't hide him in waste container.If only New Jersey was warm enough,well at lease is doing better. (O_O)
Poor baby! Hope he feels better soon! Thanks for posting!
Glad he is back safely at home.So cute!!!!!!!!!!!.
Thanks to all who helped to save the little koala. Great story, thanks for sharing.
Sometimes i wonder, "what are people thinking."
Thank god a happy ending to a very STUPID idea.
Glad your'e back home Bandit. Now go win over the ladies. With a face like yours, shouldn't be too hard to do.
He's sooooo cute, I *almost* don't blame some thoughtless twit from thinking they'd nab him as a pet! Hate to hear he was upset, just want to go give him a reassuring cuddle. Hope they didn't tease and poke this cutie. Hope his Park handlers fatten him up and help him forget his scare.
I hope that the koala is fine and also the kidnapper in sane state of mind.
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