A koala joey's butterfly encounter video has gone viral with more than 4.3 million views since Sunday after being posted on the Facebook page of the Symbio Wildlife Park near Sydney, Australia.
The light-hearted video filmed by the park shows the young koala, named Willow, on a tree and interacting with a butterfly that landed on its face. The koala joey's eyes fix on the butterfly as the insect hangs on its nose.
(Baby koalas up to six months old are called joeys, says National Geographic.)
"A pair of unlikely film co-stars have won thousands of hearts, with social media users swooning at the antics of a koala joey and butterfly," said Australia's 9 News of the butterfly "photobomb." "Koala Joey Willow was being filmed by Kevin Fallon at the Symbio Wildlife Park in Sydney for a sustainability video when she spotted a butterfly that had been placed on to a nearby branch."
When Willow climbed over to take a closer look, the butterfly also decided to move nearer and landed on her face'"
Fallon told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. that the plan was to have the butterfly flying in the background of the video, but Willow's curiosity got in the way.
"But when we actually put the butterfly on the flower, Willow came running over and started getting really inquisitive, nuzzling up to it," Fallon said. "Before we knew it, it actually flew onto Willow's head and then stayed there for ages."
"It was just the cutest thing, because Willow was looking at it, a little bit cross-eyed, on her nose. We just never thought in a million years that would happen and Willow's reaction would be so priceless."
The video of the koala joey and butterfly won the hearts of many on social media.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.