A RARE sight of a koala paddling across a river has been captured on video by amazed tourists who described it as “a rare and special moment”.
Joe Wade and Jasmyn Geerssen, a couple from Mandurah in Western Australia, have been travelling around the country and blogging their experiences since October 2016.
But what they recently witnessed on South Australia’s Kangaroo Island was a first for both of them.
The pair was kayaking along the Harriet River when they spotted a koala on the banks and started filming the fluffy marsupial. It then started swimming across the breadth of the river to the other side.
The footage was filmed in December 2016 but only uploaded to their page on Sunday.
“Have you ever seen a Koala swim?!” a post with the video read on the couple’s Facebook page. “We hadn’t until we bumped into this little cutie having a cool off.
“Check out that doggie paddle.”
Mr Wade told news.com.au it was “the trip of a lifetime”.
“We were absolutely amazed and knew we were witnessing a rare and special moment,” he said.
The koala can be seen at the end of the footage reaching the other side of the river before climbing into a tree.
Social media users who watched the video described it as “awesome”.
“I love the way he looked back as if to say ‘Ain’t nobody seen a koala swim before?’” one viewer wrote.
“Must have really wanted those gum leaves,” another said.
While koalas have been known to drown in backyard swimming pools when searching for water, they are known to be able to swim provided they have a way to get out of the water.
In December last year, two koalas were captured on video while wrestling in the middle of a South Australia road. The woman who took the video, Marguerite Smith, uploaded the footage to Facebook. It has since been viewed more than 27 million times.
megan.palin@news.com.au | @Megan_Palin
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