An Australian family was left in shock when they found a live koala in their Christmas tree.
- After their dog began sniffing around the tree, the family noticed baubles on the floor.
- Looking up at their Christmas tree, they were shocked to find a live koala.
- A rescue team was called to remove the koala from the Adelaide home.
A family in Adelaide left their home at 3 pm and returned to an unexpected surprise 3 hours later.
On Wednesday, a family left their home in Coromandel Valley, Adelaide at around 3 pm. Before leaving, 16-year-old Taylah made sure that the dog was outside, the doors were closed, and the lights were turned off. However, the family returned to an unexpected visitor when they arrived back home at 6 pm. Speaking to The Guardian, Taylah shared the family’s experience:
I think the dog went straight to the Christmas tree and was sniffing around and Mum thought that was a bit weird. There was baubles all over the floor … and she looked up and there was a koala in the tree. It was pretty tangled up in the lights. It was a fake tree and very old but she still tried eating the leaves off it … I saw her munch down on some but she stopped when she realised it was plastic.
Taylah’s mother, Amanda McCormick, also commented:
I thought ‘Is this a joke?’ I thought one of my kids may have put like a soft toy in there, but no, it was a live one. We’ve had them in our trees before but not inside on our Christmas tree … It must have crawled in when the doors were open, it would have been in our house for at least three hours.
The family quickly called a rescue group to remove the koala.
In a Facebook post, the Adelaide and Hills Koala Rescue group explained that when the hotline operator received the call, they thought they were being pranked. According to the Guardian, the family had to try and convince the rescue team that they were not joking and that a koala truly had snuck into their home and climbed up their Christmas tree. Eventually, the rescue team arrived at the Adelaide home and removed the adorable visitor from the tree.