Video: Rogue koala chases Aussie dairy farmer

  • 17/08/2015
Video: Rogue koala chases Aussie dairy farmer

Though many would think they're cute and cuddly, video captured by an Australian dairy farmer has shown koalas can be anything but.

Ebony Churchill filmed a pursuit by a determined koala chasing her as she fled on a quad bike near Heywood, western Victoria.

Video of the desperate dash garnered more than 1.2 million views on Facebook.

The unassuming marsupial was in full flight as Ms Churchill screamed, "Get away! Get away!"

"Oh my God, not it's coming up on there. I can't move. Where the bloody hell is it?"

The mischievous koala then grabbed the rear left tyre as Ms Churchill dismounted the quad bike.

"Oh my God, it's on the frickin' bike. Piss off!"

The behaviour is unusual for a koala, director of Koala Ecology Group at the University of Queensland Bill Ellis told the Sydney Morning Herald.

He said they're usually more placid during daylight hours and wouldn't approach a human or vehicle.

"It wouldn't surprise me if it was something to do with the noise that [the quad bike] was making," he said.

However, he said koalas could get aggressive, especially during breeding season, from October to November.

"They're nothing at all like the animals that you see in the zoos that people cuddle.

"A wild koala is quite a dangerous animal to deal with unless you know that you're doing. They've got sharp claws and really strong and very sharp teeth. They can do quite significant damage."

But Ms Churchill had a different theory.

"He [the koala] was in love with me and I rejected him, so he chased me," she told Adelaide's The Advertiser.

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