Koala surprise ! A male koala, known to inhabit the area, made its way straight across the course in front of runners and headed of towards an adjacent gum tree.

The moment was captured on camera by local resident Jason Hannah, who lives near the triathlon course.

He said the koala, which he calls Big Boy, was familiar to him.

"He lives behind our place, so we see him every day, he goes over there every couple of days and sits in the gum trees on the riverside," he said.

"He walks around like he owns the joint.

"Everybody leaves him alone, they let him do his own thing … he's one of the residents, really."

Mr Hannah posted a video of the koala on social media and said he received thousands of responses.

Cheyne Flanagan, an advisor with Koala Conservation Australia, said she had seen the video and the koala appeared to be in good health.

"It looked to me to be a young male and looked to be in excellent condition, which was great to see," she said.

"It was on a mission, heading straight across the road to a forest red gum on the riverbank.

"Urban koalas are well and truly conditioned to humans … you wouldn't have that happen with wild koalas in the bush, no way in the world would they come anywhere near, but urban koalas know what people are."

Koalas face habitat loss pressure:

Ms Flanagan said while it was encouraging to see a healthy male koala, it reflected the struggles koalas faced in urban areas.

In August last year, a koala (above left) was spotted walking along a beach just south of Port Macquarie and that raised similar concerns.

"This is a classic sign of loss of habitat and these animals having to struggle in areas where habitat has been removed," Ms Flanagan said.

"Urban koalas and ones in rural areas are not doing so well, they are continuing to decline at an alarming rate.

"The number of koalas being hit by cars recently has been concerning … it's also the rise in disease and disease tends to get manifested in areas where habitat has been disturbed."

Ms Flanagan said the NSW government, under the NSW Koala Strategy, was trying to restore as much habitat as possible.

"People can also play a part, by slowing down when driving in known koala areas, and calling wildlife carers if they see an injured animal," she said.

Video #2 | For those of our readers who think the 'Comrades' ultra-marathon in South Africa is the only game in town - Check out the Port Macquarie ironman comp & you get Koalas to - How good is that !!!

Original Story By | Emma Siossian & Nakita Jager