To combat speculation that the koalas in my traditional Australian vacation pictures were–gasp!!–FAKE, I’m doing an overly-photoed post solely on The Koala Spectacle. 
“I hate to see any animal caged except koalas because it suits their natural temperament,” said the trainer on the right in the above photo. “They just want to sit around all day eating or napping, and they can do that most comfortably here.” She went on to say that animals in captivity should be domesticated to some extent so if they’re ill or injured they’re comfortable around humans enough for the interaction to not stress them out and impede recovery. They’ve had most of their koalas since birth and said they’re all used to riding around on people. 
This koala was very heavy and woolly. The wildlife park koala-caregiver lady said, “Don’t reach for her, she’ll reach for you! Just hold that eucalyptus where she can see it.” Sure enough, the koala passed herself off from the trainer to me like a baby reaching for someone new. Pounce does that too if I walk by when Chris is holding him. ha. 
Speaking of Chris, it is clear that he needs a child. Aaaawwwwwww! 
Here’s the mandatory cheesy Christmas card photo that says, “Look at us! We went to Australia this year! …or a zoo!” I think this koala wants to come home with us.
I got to pet this baby. The trainer said they don’t know if the females are pregnant until out pops a baby koala from the pouch. This one emerged two weeks ago and is the cutest. Thing. Ever. Up in the branches it was all nuzzled into the pouch to stay warm since it was rainy and pretty cold. I said, “Look Chris! It’s cute as a kitten!” The trainer frowned. “He’s MUCH cuter than a kitten. His name is Benjamin.” (think with an Australian accent)
So clearly these are real koalas and NOT stuffed animals as my mom challenged, even though yes, the noses do look plastic (they in fact are not). I told her I was watching Chris with the koala and I thought, “Huh, that stuffed koala puppet from Auntie Deb way back when was a lot truer to life than I thought!”
And here is one final adorable koala picture. He was asleep when we got there, before they started looking for the baby.