Where to meet a koala — in a treetop in the wild, or up close at a sanctuary — including the Brisbane institution that started it all, on our home turf.
Few animals say 'Australia' quite like a koala dozing in the fork of a gum tree. They're harder to spot in the wild than you'd think — grey on grey, motionless, and asleep up to twenty hours a day — but there are places where the odds are very good, and sanctuaries where you can get genuinely close to a healthy, well-cared-for animal.
One quirk worth knowing: holding a koala is only permitted in Queensland and South Australia. Elsewhere you can get close for a photo, but cuddling is off the table for the animals' welfare. Brisbane's Lone Pine — the world's first and largest koala sanctuary, right on Cooee Tours' doorstep — leads the list.
The world's first and largest koala sanctuary, opened in 1927 on the Brisbane River, home to well over a hundred koalas plus kangaroos you can hand-feed, platypus, wombats and raptor shows. In Queensland you can hold a koala for a photo here.
A short trip from the city centre. See our Moreton Bay guide for getting around Brisbane.
One of the largest wild koala colonies in northern Australia lives along the Forts Walk on Magnetic Island, a 20-minute ferry from Townsville. Scan the gum trees near the old wartime forts — fellow walkers usually point the way.
Morning, before the heat, gives the best chance of an alert koala.
Grey River Road at Kennett River is one of the most reliable places in the country to see wild koalas, dotted through the manna gums just metres from the road, with king parrots and cockatoos for company.
An easy detour off the Great Ocean Road. Look up slowly and you'll start to spot them everywhere.
A free two-minute passenger ferry from Paynesville delivers you to Raymond Island and its dense wild koala population, viewable on a self-guided 'koala trail' through quiet residential streets and bush.
One of the best free wild-koala experiences in Australia.
A not-for-profit sanctuary on the Gold Coast with koala photo holds (Queensland rules apply), a renowned wildlife hospital you can learn about, and the famous lorikeet feeding. Your visit supports the hospital's work.
An easy day from Brisbane or the Gold Coast.
The Irwin family's zoo on the Sunshine Coast has a large koala forest and offers photo holds under Queensland's rules, alongside its well-known conservation and wildlife-hospital programmes.
About 90 minutes north of Brisbane.
Kangaroo Island has a thriving koala population — recovering well since the 2020 fires — and as one of the two states that allow it, South Australia lets you hold a koala at the island's wildlife park.
Wild koalas are often spotted in the manna gums along the island's roadsides.
The Tilligerry Habitat reserve on the Tomaree Peninsula near Port Stephens is a community-run patch of forest where wild koalas are regularly seen on the boardwalks among the swamp mahogany.
Quietly walk the boardwalks in the morning and look up into the canopy.
The Koala Conservation Reserve on Phillip Island has elevated treetop boardwalks that bring you to eye level with koalas in a natural bushland setting, 90 minutes from Melbourne and easily paired with the penguins.
A relaxed, accessible way to see them up in the trees.
Wild koalas live in the trees along the coastal track of Noosa National Park, particularly around Tea Tree Bay — a beautiful walk that mixes koala-spotting with headland surf views.
Walk the coastal track in the morning and scan the forks of the gum trees.
Cooee Tours runs guided touring around Brisbane, the Sunshine Coast and the Gold Coast — easy to fold a koala sanctuary into a day with us.
See Brisbane & Moreton Bay toursHolding a koala for a photo is only permitted in Queensland and South Australia. In Queensland, venues like Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, Currumbin and Australia Zoo offer it; in South Australia, the Kangaroo Island wildlife park does. Elsewhere, you can get close for a photo but not hold one.
Magnetic Island (QLD), Kennett River on the Great Ocean Road, Raymond Island (Vic) and the Tilligerry reserve near Port Stephens (NSW) are among the most reliable wild-koala spots. They're easiest to see in the cooler parts of the day.
Brisbane's Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary is the world's first and largest, opened in 1927, with over a hundred koalas alongside other native wildlife. Currumbin on the Gold Coast is a well-regarded not-for-profit that also runs a wildlife hospital.
They can be — koalas are grey, still and sleep up to 20 hours a day high in the canopy. Look slowly for a round grey shape in the fork of a gum tree, go at dawn or dusk when they're more active, and follow the gaze of other watchers.
Yes. Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary is a short trip from central Brisbane, and koalas live wild in pockets of bushland around South East Queensland. See our Moreton Bay guide for getting around the city.
Cooee Tours acknowledges the Traditional Owners of Country throughout Australia and their continuing connection to land, sea and community. We pay our respects to Elders past and present, and recognise that the places described here hold deep cultural significance for the First Peoples who have cared for them for tens of thousands of years.