Yindi: The Last Koala? (1996)

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Many westerners who think of koala bears automatically associate that animal with a sweet, cuddly, and loving mentality, but in truth, the koala - like any wild creature - may exhibit attitudes ranging from warm and serene to aggressive and even violent, depending on the external factors that confront and ensconce it. And in truth, the koala (though many fail to realize it) sits poised on the brink of complete extinction. The documentary portrait Yindi the Last Koala hones in on one such bear for a glimpse of the many stages and dramatic events that mark its endangered life; we witness it from the time of birth - when this tiny hairless creature nurses on its mother's milk - through the period of a tragic and horrific accident when its mother is severely injured, and it must subsequently be hand-raised. In time, the mother recovers and is reunited with her baby, but the two must endure shared difficulties such as bush fires, suburban development and the ever-present threat of Chlamydia. Through it all, the film provides an incomparably intimate glimpse of the young koala's biological and social development, and its growth to adulthood. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi