Koala wanders into Adelaide Hills home and nestles in family’s Christmas tree

A Hills resident has revealed how a koala managed to wander into her house and make herself at home in the family’s plastic Christmas tree.

An Adelaide Hills resident got an early Christmas surprise when she found a koala nestled in her family’s Christmas tree among the decorations.

Amanda McCormick called the Adelaide and Hills Koala Rescue charity, but as the group explained on its Facebook page, the hotline operator initially thought she was the “victim of a prank call”.

“But no, a koala desperate to get in the Christmas spirit had wandered into (her) house and decided it wanted to be the fairy on the Christmas tree,” the post said.

Rescuers confirmed the new-found furry friend was a female.

A koala was found up a Christmas tree in the lounge room of a Hills’ resident. Picture:1300Koalaz/Facebook.

Ms McCormick said she was shocked to find the marsupial in the plastic tree, which had been set up the night before.

“We had left the door open for a bit during the day so that the dog could come in and out, while my daughter was home,” she said.

“Then my daughter went out, put the dog out and locked the house, but the koala must have still been in there and made itself at home in our tree.

“So it was a real surprise finding it there and must have been there for at least three hours.

“She is very cute and I’m very honoured that she picked our house to come into.”

Ms McCormick said her daughter Taylor was quick to name the koala Daphne before it was released into a tree on a neighbour’s property.

“There are always koalas in our trees, but never inside, so they must feel comfortable on our property, even though we have an Irish setter dog,” she said.

“We did check this morning to see if she was still in the (outside) tree, but she wasn’t there. We hope we’ll see her again.”