Koala leads Australia police on merry, slow-speed chase through railway station

A wayward koala led police on a low-speed, early morning chase through a railway station in Australia, video released on Tuesday showed, surprising commuters in the city.

Video provided by Transport for New South Wales showed the koala ambling through Casula station in Sydney on Friday, around 34km (21 miles) southwest of the city’s central business district.

The video showed the koala checking out a lift before opting to descend a stairway.

Trains in the area were ordered to slow as the koala – a normally reclusive species and one of Australia’s best-loved animals – came dangerously close to the platform edge.

The marsupial eventually hopped the station fence after police officers were dispatched to chase it away from the tracks.

“While it took a self-guided tour of the station, a train guard notified the Security Control Centre,” Transport for New South Wales said in a statement on Facebook. “With the guidance of some NSW police officers, it found its way back to the bush safe and sound.”