The koala scam

Sleepy koala in Ballarat, Australia

Short words to tell you about the koala scam.

Without any predators, sleeping all day long, those small cubs are still protected in Australia. It seems it's totally forbidden to touch them. If you do, the police could track you.

But you can touch a koala in a natural reserve. There is the entrance fee, between 15 and 25 $, usually. And, if you want, you can buy food to feed to kangaroos, which you can touch as much as you want. But for the koalas... the koalas...

Touching a koala? They will charge you 10 more dollars (or 25, maybe). A picture with the koala? They will take it for you for another 10 $... And the price keep on rising if you want the whole family on the picture.

We, on the other hand, went around that rule in Ballarat. Around 2:30 PM, an employee took the koala out of it's enclosure so we could pet it. We could take pictures. For free. There you go. That is called magic.