Karen the koala gives Cobram kids a lesson in nature

Karen the Koala — as she was affectionately dubbed — roamed around the school with her joey for a short time, and the adventure was captured on video and uploaded to the school’s Facebook page.

Community Engagement officer Anne-Marie Hindle said it was a case of déjà vu for the inquisitive visitors.

“Previously we had Kevin the Koala visit our old admin building, so we thought it may have been him, but this one was a female with a joey in its pouch,” she said.

“All the students were amazed at how cute she was.

“There have been plenty of comments on the Facebook video from people saying how wonderful it is to go to school in rural Victoria, and how schools in the city would never see this sort of thing.”

Karen’s cameo isn’t as rare as people might think.

According to Dutch Thunder Wildlife’s Kylee Donkers, sightings of the furry marsupials around town have become more frequent throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We had three different koala sightings within one day. They are on the move at the moment. Lots of females are looking to find food for their young,” she said.

“Due to COVID-19 there are more people walking around and are therefore noticing more koalas.

“We urge people who do see them in their backyard to lock their pets up and leave them to move on. We don’t tend to rescue them unless they feel threatened.”