I think I found the next Paul Hogan

Man fined after ramming tree, poking koala

A former country Victorian teenager has been convicted and fined $2800 after he repeatedly rammed his car into a tree to try and dislodge a koala.

A court heard today that Brett Grant Seabrook, 19, had earlier found the koala at the base of a tree near his campsite in the Barmah State Park in northern Victoria.

Echuca Magistrates Court was told that Seabrook wrapped the marsupial in a blanket and released it in a tree at the campsite on March 22 this year.

Wildlife officer Greg Chant, prosecuting for the Department of Sustainability and Environment, said when the koala began to make a loud noise, Seabrook tried to retrieve it by poking it with a stick.

Mr Chant said Seabrook then rammed the tree with his Toyota Landcruiser utility, which was witnessed by a number of nearby campers who alerted authorities.