Auswildlife.com

An aboreal marsupial and one of the most popular and well-known species in Australia. A great souce of general information on them can be found here.  However planning to photograph them in the wild is not particularly easy. The vast majority of images are taken in wildlife parks where the well polished wooden branches of their artificial trees clearly indicate the setup. To find them in the wild can be difficult for a number of reasons; in habitats where they occur, they are normally found in low numbers, they are usually high up,and they are nocturnal animals, so during the day they are often asleep.  There are some reserves where the Koalas are more or less in natural habitats and these can be worth visiting. The picture shown here was taken in Tidbinbilla reserve near Canberra, but some months after the picture was taken, a major bushfire burnt through the reserve and all but one animal died. I don’t know the current status of the reserve, but you can see that it was an ideal site. Koalas are not mentioned in their latest on-line info.  The reserve is still worth a visit for the other animals however.

In Queensland, there is Daisy Hill reserve just south of Brisbane. Koalas can be seen here but you would have to be lucky to get one in a good photographic position.

Finally, and maybe the best place – Kangaroo Island in South Australia. Koalas were introduced here and have now over-populated the island, so you may very easily see and get to photograph koalas here. These are the southern form with dark, long shaggy hair. If you are curious about this variation across the specie’s range, then read the Wiki (first link on this article).  I have  never been to the island, so can’t give you any first hand advice, but there is quite a bit of information here.  If you know of other sites please leave a comment and I will incorporate it. Happy Koalas!