A Symbio Wildlife Park video of Harry the koala posted by Tourism Australia on Saturday has been viewed by 10 million people on the weekend and is shaping up as the most viral video ever.
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The footage was filmed and produced by Kevin Fallon who said it had also been viewed 260,000 on the Symbio Wildlife Park Facebook page. And it already has its own parody viewed 750,000 times on the Ozzie Man Reviews page.
Mr Fallon said Harry was also featured on the national news bulletins on 9 and 7 networks on Saturday night. He said it normally took four to five days for such footage to hit viral stage and to be picked up by international media. But this was the fastest response ever.
Other Symbio videos to go viral have included Red Pandas, Cotton Top Tamarins, Pygmy Marmosets and Wombats.
Mr Fallon said the latest footage was of Harry running over to zookeeper Tami Wilson for cuddles and then rolling onto his back for belly rubs and tickles. It them shows him chilling out in Ms Wilson’s arms before they both lay back on the ground to enjoy the sunshine. The young zookeeper believes she has the best job in the world. She has developed a strong bond with her koala joey friend. At the very sight of her Harry climbs down from whatever tree his is sitting in to come and greet her.
He had a rough start to life after his mother passed away from leukaemia when he was just four months old.
“This left him as an orphan,” Mr Fallon said.
“Harry was yet to receive the vital pap secretion required from his mother to enable him to adequately digest his future staple diet of eucalyptus leaves. The zoo keepers decided that to ensure his survival, his best chance was to cross surrogate Harry into..Imogen's mother's pouch, and then hand raise Imogen. Imogen's mother adapted to her new role of being a surrogate mother to Harry instantly. And the two flourished.”
Now the young koala has moved into the Symbio Koala Sanctuary full time and is enjoying his new-found independence. But nothing will stop his very close bond with his favourite zookeeper.