Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary

There was no way I was going to fly all the way to Australia without seeing koalas and kangaroos. Fortunately, despite the name, the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary has both, not just koalas. That’s where I went this morning. Now, I can check both of them off my list in one go. Clever, eh?

Cruise to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary

The Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary is a little over an hour’s leisurely cruise up the Brisbane River. When the sanctuary was built in 1927 there were no roads to it. The river was pretty much the only way to get there back then.

A company built a boat to take visitors to the sanctuary. The company still runs a daily cruise up there. Although they replaced the first boat once already.

A road now goes by the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. So you can take a bus to get there, but, let me think. On the one hand, you have a smelly bus driving along roads through a string of Brisbane suburbs. On the other, you have a cruise up a winding river. Needless to say, choosing the cruise was an easy decision for me.

Along the way, a recorded voice provided a running commentary about the river, its bridges, the many Brisbane suburbs on each side, some of the more notable structures, and some of the local history. I don’t need to tell my regular readers that I forget most of the information, interesting or not. They know to expect that I forgot.

One thing I do remember is that Brisbane River is a tidal quite far inland from the ocean. It changes direction four times a day. Consequently, it doesn’t know whether it is coming or going. (I added that last part. To the best of my knowledge, the river isn’t sentient. I assume it doesn’t know anything whatsoever. The commentary didn’t say.)

According to the commentary, the Brisbane River is 100 percent saltwater as it passes through the Brisbane Central Business District and is still brackish as it flows by the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary.

I have my doubts about the 100 percent saltwater claim. Predominantly salt water? Maybe. But 100 percent? How is that possible?

I mean, the source is freshwater. It flows downstream. Even when it reaches the ocean, it must mix with the saltwater.

What? Does the freshwater see the saltwater, say to itself, “There’s no way I’m going to mix with that sort of water. It’s not our kind,” and turn around and head back upstream? I don’t think so. There must be some mixing.

Another thing I learned from the commentary is that koalas aren’t koala bears. Nothing is a koala bear. People just started calling them that. The correct name of the species is just koala. They’re marsupials, not bears.

The river cruise makes for a relaxing, scenic, informative way to get to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary.

At the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary

The sanctuary is a large park with, as I said, more than just koalas. As I didn’t say, there are more than just koalas and kangaroos. There are also a free-flight raptor show, a sheep and sheep dog show, crocodiles, dingoes, wallabies, emus, flying foxes, turtles, platypuses, pigs, and a variety of birds. So, it’s essentially a zoo, but with koalas predominating. I saw most of the animals, but not all of them before I had to grab a desperate bite at the cafe and get to the boat for the trip back.

Koalas

The koalas are in some small compounds throughout the grounds. Their pens just have low walls, most of which were maybe about chest-high. A couple aren’t even waist-high. And, keep in mind that in many societies I don’t meet the legal minimum to qualify as adult height. So, the walls are not a high bar to jump over.

There’s nothing else keeping the koalas in. But they don’t appear to have any interest in leaving. They just sit in their low trees nibbling on leaves or sleeping. Mostly the latter. Koalas can sleep for 20 hours a day. You’d think they’d occasionally want to get up and go out for a walk, take in a show, or do some travelling and see some sights. Apparently not.

Free-Flight Raptor Show

In the interest of accuracy, I feel the need to say that the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary doesn’t include a hyphen in “Free-Flight.” Its signage says “Free Flight Raptor Show.” But I think that’s ambiguous. It could be read as a flight raptor (as opposed to a raptor that’s been grounded) show that’s free. I don’t think that’s what they mean.

There is no charge for the show beyond the admission to the sanctuary, but what’s special about the show is that the raptors fly free, without being tethered or inside an enclosure.

I’ve seen raptor flight shows at a couple of zoos, but the raptors were in large enclosures, with netting walls and high netting ceilings. That’s not the case here.

The show included three raptors, two types of owls and a falcon. The owls (they brought only one out at a time) swooped around a bit, occasionally landing on perches not high above the audience. The falcon made wider-ranging flights before coming back to buzz the audience with low-altitude, high-speed flights. I did some ducking, as did the rest of the audience under its path.

The thing is, there’s nothing to keep the birds from taking off and not coming back. I guess they like the idea of free and easy mice and rat treats without having to hunt for their food.

Sheep Dog Show

The sanctuary also has some sheep. And they have a sheepdog show.

They have a few different sheep-herding dogs. But only one works each show. The rest take the time off. The dog in the show I was at was a border collie. The sanctuary has another breed, but I forget what it is.

If I remember correctly, the dog’s name is Lucy. If I don’t remember correctly its name is something completely different, maybe Mergatroyd, but I’ll call her Lucy.

Lucy started by corralling the twenty or so sheep into a tight group that Lucy moved into one of the back corners. Lucy then herded the sheep toward the trainer. Then she herded them around some obstacles.

It was an impressive display. I think Lucy and her mates work for just room and board. That’s so unfair. They should join a union and strike for monetary pay, paid vacations, and other benefits.

Kangaroos and Wallabies

The kangaroos and wallabies at the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary are in a large compound that visitors can enter and wander through and among the animals. I did that.

A sign provides illustrations of the two kinds of kangaroos and two kinds of wallabies strewn throughout the enclosure. Most of them spent their time lying down. A few stood up occasionally. And I even saw a couple of them hop.

I would have demanded to speak to the manager if none of them hopped. I mean, come on. They’re kangaroos. Hopping is supposed to be their thing. It’s what they’re known for.

Kangaroos and wallabies look a lot alike. Even with the illustrations, I wasn’t always sure if the animal I was looking at was a kangaroo or a wallaby. I think wallabies are smaller. But that might just be the age of the specific wallaby/kangaroo I was looking at.

Some people carried identical, small, unmarked brown paper bags, from which they fed the kangaroos and wallabies. I read you can buy food at the sanctuary to feed the kangaroos (and I imagine the wallabies too). I searched for a store or hut where I could make the purchase, but I couldn’t find one.

I felt self-conscious about this. I didn’t feel a strong desire to feed the animals. But I feared that the kinder of the kangaroos and wallabies might think I’m overly parsimonious. And I’m sure the less compassionate of them thought I was a cheap bastard. Kangaroos can be so judgemental.

Considering that they were plain brown unmarked bags, maybe they contained illicit feed. Perhaps nefarious people wander around whispering, “Psst. Wanna buy some kangaroo food?” If so, I didn’t see them.

Crocodiles

I saw only one of each of two different types of crocodiles at the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. Each lies in a different enclosure. And I do mean lies. Both lay on the ground and didn’t move a muscle while I watched them.

One of the enclosures is close to the entrance/exit to the sanctuary. I was in the park for more than two and a half hours. When I left, I swear the crocodile in that enclosure was in the same position it was in when I entered the park.

To be honest, I’m not entirely sure if I saw an exhibit of living crocodiles or a taxidermy display.

Turtles

The paper map of the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary that they gave me on the boat showed a turtle section. Despite hunting specifically for the turtles, I couldn’t find them. Staff are scarce on the ground at the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. But I found one at a booth selling special experiences at the park. I asked her where the turtles were.

“Turtles,” she responded with a lilt in her voice indicating a question. “We don’t have turtles here.”

I showed her the map and pointed to where it indicated turtles. She turned to a colleague and asked if they had turtles. The colleague said they did and pointed me in the right direction. Even then, it took me a while to find the turtle. And when I say “turtle,” I do mean “turtle,” not “turtles.” I only saw only one in the pen. If there are others they were hiding when I was there.

However, at that point, I hadn’t yet seen the second crocodile enclosure. When I did, I saw a second turtle in there with the motionless crocodile. Despite the crocodile seeming comatose at the time, I still don’t know how the turtle could get any sleep. The crocodile, on the other hand, had no trouble sleeping.

The Cruise Back From the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary

On the cruise back to the centre of the city, they provided music for most of the way. What very little commentary I heard was provided live, not recorded. The boat didn’t get back until almost mid-afternoon. So I didn’t do much afterwards—just one activity of note. Nevertheless, I’ll save that for a later short post.