{"id":309111,"date":"2025-11-26T23:48:10","date_gmt":"2025-11-26T23:48:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/309111\/"},"modified":"2025-11-26T23:48:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-26T23:48:10","slug":"disturbing-tourist-act-at-aussie-wildlife-park-sparks-drastic-change-show-respect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/309111\/","title":{"rendered":"Disturbing tourist act at Aussie wildlife park sparks drastic change: ‘Show respect’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Coins, a banana peel, and then an apple core were found lying on the ground of an endangered koala <\/a>enclosure in Australia\u2019s capital. Staff at Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve <\/a>who collected them have a concrete theory about how they got here.<\/p>\n

Its threatened species team leader, Nicole Hill, said staff believe they were thrown inside by visitors trying to get the koalas\u2019 attention<\/a> or to get them to move.<\/p>\n

\u201cKoalas sleep for around 18 to 20 hours a day, and it\u2019s something they need to do, but we think people were trying to get some sort of behaviour out of them,\u201d she told Yahoo News.<\/p>\n

The majority of tourists do the right thing when they enter Canberra\u2019s sprawling Tidbinbilla sanctuary, but these isolated incidents over the last three years have sparked concern.<\/p>\n

Then, a disturbing act that staff witnessed this year compelled them to up security by installing new cameras and signage around the enclosure.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had an incident where someone found a long stick and used it to poke one of the koalas,\u201d Hill said.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

There\u2019s usually ample room for koalas to avoid unwanted interactions with humans. Source: ACT Government<\/p>\n

Public uproar a ‘disgusting’ tourist behaviour<\/p>\n

While security signs have been installed, warning signs about appropriate behaviour have not been.<\/p>\n

Hill believes most people would understand that throwing items at wildlife is \u201cnot an appropriate way to behave\u201d.<\/p>\n

“The best deterrent for them is a camera, noting their behaviour is being monitored,” she said.<\/p>\n

Similar controversial acts with wildlife have been observed around Australia, including tourists picking up or interfering with crocodiles<\/a>, lizards, snakes<\/a> and marsupials \u2014 an American tourist even took a baby wombat from its mother, <\/a> sparking anger from the Prime Minister.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Left:<\/p>\n

Before recent troubling incidents security cameras were not needed at the enclosure. Source: ACT Government\/Supplied<\/p>\n

Government issues warning about behaviour at reserve<\/p>\n

ACT Parks and Conservation Service has issued a warning that anti-social behaviour aimed at the park\u2019s animals will be reported to authorities.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlease help us protect these gentle animals by showing them the respect they deserve,\u201d it said in a social media statement.<\/p>\n

Members of the public acted angrily to news of poor behaviour from visitors, with one calling it \u201cabsolutely disgusting and disappointing\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is wrong with people, seriously?\u201d another said. \u201cWhat is becoming of the human race. Are people not taught compassion any more?\u201d another asked.<\/p>\n

Koalas usually able to avoid unwanted contact with people<\/p>\n

Three koalas live in a large 40-acre reserve, which contains a smaller enclosure with four more koalas that tourists can observe more closely.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe display enclosure is large enough that koalas can choose if they\u2019d like to move further away from people and have a bit more solitude,\u201d Hill said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut often they might fall asleep at the front of the enclosure before people arrive.\u201d<\/p>\n

If anyone wants to see koalas moving, it\u2019s suggested they arrive around 1:30pm when the koalas are fed by staff and are generally more active.<\/p>\n

Love Australia’s weird and wonderful environment? \ud83d\udc0a\ud83e\udd98\ud83d\ude33 Get our new newsletter<\/a> showcasing the week\u2019s best stories.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Coins, a banana peel, and then an apple core were found lying on the ground of an endangered…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":309112,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[49,48,52057,138129,66,26481,29251,45515,323],"class_list":["post-309111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-koalas","tag-nicole-hill","tag-science","tag-security-cameras","tag-tidbinbilla-nature-reserve","tag-tourist-behaviour","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309111","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=309111"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309111\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/309112"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=309111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=309111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=309111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}