This is the ‘sexy koala’ whose pose launched thousands of double taps on Instagram.
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but apparently, a picture capturing this kind of animal attraction is worth 2,446 worryingly cross-species ‘likes’ on social media, and counting.
The charismatic marsupial was captured in the so-called seductive position – not this writer’s words – by photographer Ross Long, who posted the koala’s ‘hashtag new profile pic’ to the ‘Gram.
The 27-year-old British expat took the snap at Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary in Queensland on Australia’s Gold Coast.
Acknowledging the hard-to-miss nature of the koala’s sultry stare, and referencing possibly the sexiest scene in cinematic history courtesy of a doomed ship, a sketchpad and a blue diamond, he captioned the image, ‘Draw me like one of your French girls, Jack’.
Apparently, the koala held his pose for the photographer to take a number of shots of his lean.
The koala was captured with one arm slung around a tree branch, and one resting a top another tree with his lithe legs dangling into the canopy.
Let’s be honest, it could’ve inspired The Streets’ to write Fit But You Know It.
Long explained how he interpreted the tree-top peacocking:
He’s certainly positioned in a seductive manner as if to say: ‘I’m ready for action’. There were other female koalas nearby, so I guess this is his way of letting them know he was ready.
He looked more chilled than a Friday night of Netflix and chill. Perhaps this explains why chlamydia is such an issue in the koala world?
I’ve never worked with such an easy-going model like this one before, it’s a welcome change from the stuff I usually capture.
Humans who saw this image online got right to the task of anthropomorphising the wild animal, as we so often want to do, and here’s when the weirdness started.
Some people have publicly dubbed the herbivore on a quest for love a ‘sexy’ beast, seemingly unashamed by this verbal bestiality.
Others were quick to raise the chlamydia issue – as Long did – the sexually transmitted disease which mysteriously affects 100 per cent of some wild populations of koalas.
Long, originally from Cornwall, concluded:
I’m lucky enough to travel around Australia and New Zealand most of the year which gives me plenty of photography opportunities.
There is just so much variety in Australia, depending on where you go, the animals adapt with the landscape. It keeps everything fresh and exciting.
Hopefully thew koala won’t rest on his attractive laurels and will endeavor to approach reproduction with the same attitude towards keeping things fresh, which Long takes to his photography.
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A former emo kid who talks too much about 8Chan meme culture, the Kardashian Klan, and how her smartphone is probably killing her. Francesca is a Cardiff University Journalism Masters grad who has done words for BBC, ELLE, The Debrief, DAZED, an art magazine you’ve never heard of and a feminist zine which never went to print.