Anyone taking a stroll along Stanwell Park beach on Wednesday morning to enjoy the sunrise may have done a double take. Yes, that was a koala lounging on the sand.
The team at Symbio Wildlife Park, Helensburgh, were doing the first shoot to prepare for its new destination marketing campaign — Out and About with Animal — and the star of the shoot was none other than the cutest little koala called James.
Symbio’s manager of marketing and creative services, Kevin Fallon, said the team had perfect autumn lighting, with James revelling in the sand under his toes and the warm rays of the sunrise on his fur.
On the tail of the internationally successful #zookeepersasanimals campaign which had the zoo’s keepers mimicking their favourite animal photos, Out and About with Animals is being photographed by the zoo’s own staff to help raise the zoo’s profile and the region on to a world stage.
The campaign, which received a boost when Tourism Australia ran the pictures on its Facebook page, encourages residents to interact and learn about Australia’s native animals.
Future picture shoots for the campaign will include a koala nestled on a perch on top of Bald Hill Lookout overlooking Stanwell Park and the Sea Cliff Bridge.
Two more beach shoots will include dingoes and a wombat, and a rainforest shoot with a rare, albino echidna.
The public will be invited to join the fun for three of the four future shoots, so keep up to date with the Symbio Wildlife Park Facebook page.
