A pin identifying “koala sleeping in a tree” encouraged hordes of tourists to visit the tiny town of Kennett River, where some threw rocks at koalas in search of the perfect Instagram picture.
On a warm summer morning about a year ago, Jules Lin watched in dismay as a tourist began climbing a tree in the tiny coastal hamlet of Kennett River, apparently attempting to rouse a sleeping koala for a photo.
Lin said on some days in peak season up to 2400 people arrived at Kennett River to get a photo of wildlife or feed native birds. “Someone had pinned ‘koala sleeping tree’. Thousands of people went to that one tree, that one animal,” Lin said. Kennett Community Action Group president Elenore Lannigan said she noticed there were fewer koalas after the streams of tourists arrived.
“They would be moving away from the tourists and coming onto our properties more. Then the clucking started to happen, and now they’re not here at all.” Great Ocean Road Regional Tourism industry development manager Jo Birley said her agency no longer promoted Kennett River as a place to see wildlife.
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