This pin marks the Big Thing itself. If stopping, choose a safe and legal place nearby.
31.45946° S, 152.81986° E
FIELD GUIDE
The story
The koalas at Billabong Zoo are refugees from a zoo that closed.
They were made by Natureworks – the Queensland fabricators responsible for a large share of Australia's oversized objects – for Coffs Harbour Zoo. When that zoo closed, the trio was moved south to Billabong Zoo at Sancrox near Port Macquarie in 2003, where they now stand at the entrance and are promoted for exactly what they are good for: selfies.
A family group rather than a single animal is the right call, and not only for the photograph. Koalas are solitary for most of their lives, but the image people carry is a mother with a joey on her back, and a grouping lets the sculpture show that without needing a caption.
The subject also has real weight here. Port Macquarie is home to one of the best-known koala hospitals in the country, and the koala population of the mid-north coast has been under sustained pressure from habitat loss, roads, dogs and disease, with the species now listed as endangered through much of eastern Australia. A zoo entrance flanked by giant koalas is not neutral decoration in this particular town.
They share the site with the Big Dingo, which has stood at Billabong since the 1990s, so the entrance has accumulated oversized animals from two separate origins – one built for this zoo, one inherited from another.
Because they are inside an operating wildlife park at 61 Billabong Drive, seeing them means going in.
Photograph
This is a photograph, shown separately from the illustration artwork.
Current Port Macquarie tourism material explicitly promotes selfies with the Big Koala Family at Billabong Zoo. The zoo remains active at 61 Billabong Drive with extensive free visitor parking.
ACCESS
The Big Koala Family is at Billabong Zoo. Navigate to the mapped zoo visitor venue at 61 Billabong Drive and use the operator’s ample free parking; the sculpture group is about 170 metres from the mapped venue point. Normal zoo admission and operating conditions apply beyond the entrance precinct.
