Ever heard a koala growl? This ‘angry little fella’ may shock you, video shows
.png "Screen grab of a TikTok video that shows an Australian man try to rescue a fussy koala bear from the side of a Southern Queensland road.")
Koalas are cute and cuddly, right?
Well, yes, they are, but they also have personas that most don’t even know exist.
A father and daughter duo in Australia nervously watched as several cars swerved to avoid hitting a fluffy koala bear innocently sitting on the side of a busy Southern Queensland road.
To prevent a fatal accident, Lozz Wright’s dad throws on some heavy duty gloves and begins to walk toward the animal, which to its dismay, peeks over its shoulder and tries to run away.
Cue scene.
In a video posted to the social media platform TikTok, Wright records a surprising yet oddly humorous rescue attempt that involves a lot of growling, nail digging and biting (the koala, not Mr. Wright) — like a fussy toddler who doesn’t want to go to bed.
Mr. Wright finally gets a hold of the koala and carries it to the other side of the road. He looks into its eyes and says, “you’re an angry little fella.” The marsupial returns the eye contact while tensely gripping its rescuer’s hand.
“It’s OK,” Mr. Wright says, as he continues the stare down with the animal. He then returns the grumpy koala to a tree.
His daughter told Storyful that this isn’t her dad’s first rodeo with koala rescues. He’s saved “multiple koalas before,” including one that had been hit by a car.
The video has since received 2.6 million “likes” and over 25,700 comments as of Wednesday morning. TikTok users weren’t shy to express how shocked they were to learn the “chill” animals actually have a dark side.
“Koalas sound like that??? And are aggressive? Why does society make them out to be babies,” one user wrote.
Another said, “koalas make the sound of a demonic possession. Cool.”
One user enjoyed the intense eye contact. “Lil bro looked at him like, ‘maybe I overreacted bro I’m sorry, that tree is fine btw.’”
One person who’s apparently saved a koala before commented below the video, “angry buggers. I saved one from 4 lanes of traffic once. He returned the favor by biting and pissing on me.”
Koalas are known to make “a range of sounds to communicate” different needs across large distances, according to the Australian Koala Foundation. Males typically emit a “deep grunting bellow” to showcase its social and physical position, as well as its dominance.
Females, on the other hand, don’t bellow as often as males, but they typically make noises to express aggression and sexual desires.
Fear is the one common call shared by all koalas, the foundation says. “It is a cry like a baby screaming and is made by animals under stress. It is often accompanied by shaking.”
This story was originally published May 5, 2021 at 11:24 AM with the headline "Ever heard a koala growl? This ‘angry little fella’ may shock you, video shows."
