Jakarta Globe – AFP, Nov 16, 2014
Brisbane. Australia arranged a warm and fuzzy welcome for the world’s most powerful leaders at this weekend’s G20 summit with a campaign dubbed “koala diplomacy”, in which top politicians cuddled the shy native marsupials.
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| First Lady Iriana Widodo holds a koala while on a spouse visit to a koala sanctuary at the G20 conference in Brisbane, Australia on Nov. 15, 2014. (EPA Photo/Ian Waldie/ Pool Australia And New Zealand Out) |
Brisbane. Australia arranged a warm and fuzzy welcome for the world’s most powerful leaders at this weekend’s G20 summit with a campaign dubbed “koala diplomacy”, in which top politicians cuddled the shy native marsupials.
While there
may have been sharp differences during policy discussions, G20 leaders were
unanimous in their desire be photographed with the furry grey animals, which
were brought in from a local wildlife park for the summit.
Everyone
from US President Barack Obama to China’s first lady Peng Liyuan queued up to
hold the koalas as the world’s press snapped away.
Even host
Tony Abbott’s pre-summit threat to aggressively “shirtfront” Russian leader
Vladimir Putin was temporarily forgotten as the pair smiled and posed
side-by-side cradling koalas in their arms.
The well-traveled
White House press corps, normally immune to the charms of “local color”, were
also enchanted by the iconic bush creatures when they met a two-year-old female
named Jimbelung.
The koala,
which is destined to be sent to Japan as a gift, munched contentedly on
eucalyptus leaves but her handler said she was too tired to pose with reporters
after photo sessions with Putin and Obama.
However,
there was time for one more round of pictures when local powerbroker Campbell
Newman, the Premier of Queensland state, turned up with a gaggle of media in
tow.
But handler
Al Mucci, from the Dreamworld wildlife park on the nearby Gold Coast tourist
strip, said bringing the koalas to the summit was not just about ramping up the
event’s cuteness factor.
He said Jimbelung,
whose name means “friends” in the local Aboriginal dialect, belongs to a
species struggling with declining numbers as human development encroaches on
their habitat.
“As an
Australian, I am proud of the fact that we are hosting the G20 and I’m proud
that today we can share the koala story,” he told AFP.
“Koalas and
people aren’t learning to live together and their population is dropping. We
want to share that with the global community, that more help is required to
make sure that people and koalas live together for another 200 years here in
Australia.”
While not
listed as endangered, koalas are officially considered “vulnerable”, and
efforts to boost their population have been stepped up in recent years.
A 2011
study estimated there were more than 10 million before British settlers arrived
in 1788 but numbers had declined to less than 45,000 in the wild, though it
noted their existence high in the treetops makes them difficult to count.
Koalas
spend up to 20 hours a day sleeping. On the rare occasions when they are
spotted in the wild, they are usually nestled in the crook of two branches
either napping or chewing leaves.
Agence France-Presse
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| Australia's Prime Minister Tony Abbott, left, and US President Barack Obama each hold a koala before the G20 Leaders' Summit in Brisbane on Nov. 15, 2014. (Reuters Photo/G20 Australia/Handout) |
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