Australian family find koala hiding in Christmas tree

‘Daphne’, as the family named her, was rescued and released by a local charity, but not before putting up a fight to stay where she was

A koala in a eucalyptus tree - a more usual hangout (Getty)

Up in the branches of a plastic Christmas tree, amid the twinkling decorations and fairy lights, an unexpected guest surprised an Australian family when they returned home on Wednesday evening: a somewhat bewildered little koala.

Amanda McCormick and her family arrived back at their house in Adelaide to find their dog sniffing around the tree, and ornaments strewn across the floor, before they spotted the adorable marsupial bauble sitting motionless halfway up the tree.

“Well that’s something you don’t see every day,” Ms McCormick wrote on Facebook.

“We just came home to a real life koala up our Xmas tree in our lounge room!”

The animal had apparently let itself into their house and located the closest approximation of its natural habitat.

Ms McCormick’s 16-year-old daughter Taylah had been the last to leave the house and had left the back door open for the dog.

Ms McCormick said: “We left the back door open for the dog to get in and out this morning. Taylah was home. Little lady must have just wandered in and made herself at home!”

The family decided to call the koala Daphne.

In another post, Ms McCormick added: “My new mate, Daphne! Wish I could keep her,” creating the new hashtag “#KoalaUpAChristmasTree”.

But what does one do when faced with the real life situation of a #KoalaUpAChristmasTree?

The McCormicks did the right thing and took some videos and called a koala rescue charity.

In a post on their page, the charity Adelaide and Hills Koala Rescue said: “This evening our hotline operator took a call. At first she thought she was the victim of a prank call.

“But no, a koala desperate to get in the Christmas spirit had wandered into Amanda McCormick’s house and decided it wanted to be the fairy on the Christmas tree.”

After being convinced of the call’s legitimacy, the organisation then sent round two of its representatives to prise the additional advent interloper from its plastic perch.

In one of Ms McCormick’s videos, showing the rescue, the charity workers are heard reassuring the animal and stroking it, and telling Ms McCormick “she’s so sweet, you’re so lucky”, before wrapping it in a towel and beginning to pull it from the tree.

The koala takes unkindly to its removal, producing a rich torrent of grunty growls before biting the man pulling her from the tree. It is then placed into a cage.

The animal was immediately re-released nearby.

“Straya mate,” wrote one of Ms McCormack’s friends on her Facebook post, apparently explaining the incident.