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A CHANCE encounter with a stranded koala on the Murray River has thrown a group of Bendigo university students into the global spotlight.
La Trobe University Outdoor and Environmental Education student and Bendigo SES volunteer Kirra Coventry said she had been contacted by media outlets from all over the world since her footage of a koala accepting a lift on a student’s canoe went viral.
“I got an email today asking if they could share it on the Italian news,” Ms Coventry said.
“Journalists from New York are trying to get permission to use it. It’s been a huge response.
“I had no idea it was going to blow up like this.”
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She and her peers were at the tail-end of a kayaking trip when they encountered the koala on a tree in the Murray River, surrounded by water.
Having noticed that it seemed to want to get closer to their canoes, the students offered the koala a lift.
Had it not been for Facebook Messenger’s inability to send the file, Ms Coventry said the footage might not have been shared beyond her peers and lecturers.
“I literally just put it up with my Facebook page because the file was too big to send through Messenger,” she said.
“Within hours it’s just had thousands and thousands of views.”
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Though the response was overwhelmingly positive, some viewers took a more critical view.
Some pointed out that koalas could swim, and doubted whether the animal had been in need of rescue.
“I think he potentially tested the waters and thought the better of it,” Ms Coventry said.
She said the koala’s back legs looked quite wet when the canoes approached.
“That one particular spot in the river there was a really, really quick flow,” Ms Coventry said.
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Since it seemed the koala was keen for the canoes to move closer, Ms Coventry said offering it a lift was “kind of the logical response.”
“If it’s trying to get on anyway, maybe we should help it out a little bit,” she said.
“We just felt very privileged to be part of that encounter, as opposed to trying to orchestrate it”.