The inquisitive marsupial – nicknamed ‘Blinky Bill’ after an Australian cartoon koala popular in the 1930s – made his unexpected entrance in the middle of the night at Hamilton Base Hospital, in western Victoria, around 185 miles west of Melbourne.
CCTV images captured the iconic marsupial activating the automatic doors and exploring his new surroundings for several minutes before sauntering back out into the wild.
Rohan Fitzgerald, chief executive of Western District Health Service, told AFP the furry creature was “very casual” as he entered the emergency department. “He was a koala that knew his own mind,” said Mr Fitzgerald. “He came in around about 3.27am – the electronic eye on the doors picked him up and he accessed the waiting room by himself.
“He walked around the waiting room for three minutes and then propped in front of the external doors and the eye of the doors picked him up again and he exited the waiting room. That was his experience of the hospital’s emergency department.”
Hospital staff spotted the koala’s arrival, but decided to leave him alone. The incident took place on April 20, but the video was only posted on Facebook yesterday – since when it has been viewed around 150,000 times.
“Blinky Bill was a little koala. He was quite mischievous and he liked to go and explore things,” said Mr Fitzgerald. “He’s a bit of an Australian icon really, as far as koalas go.”
You can see ‘Blinky Bill’ make his hospital entrance here:
