You can help Australia’s koalas by eating some of Japan’s favorite chocolate treats!

Lotte, makers of the popular Koalas’s March snack, have been helping out koalas for over two decades now. 

We’ve all been heartbroken by the wildfires that have brought so much devastation to the wildlife in Australia, especially by the pictures of countless koalas that have been killed, injured or burned out of their homes by the fires. Naturally, there has been support from around the world for efforts to provide aid for the people and animals affected, and in Japan, the fund-raising activity by snack maker Lotte has become the subject of some attention recently.

Lotte is the maker of the long-selling Koala’s March (Koala no Māchi) snack, and for those of you not familiar with the snack, they’re basically chocolate-stuffed crackers with adorable images of koalas printed on them. They can be found in basically any convenience store or super market in Japan and are often offered in limited edition or seasonal flavors as well.

▼ The Koala’s March snack from Lotte — simple yet tasty, and cute to look at too!

The Koala’s March website provides a link from which you can directly make a donation to the Australian Koala Fund, but that’s not all. Whenever you buy any Lotte snack, not just Koala’s March, a portion of the sales also goes to the Fund. Yup, we think it’s awesome that you can help koalas while enjoying yummy treats, not to mention that “But it’s to help koalas,” has to be just about the best excuse you can give for buying anything.

▼ Each cracker has a different koala image printed on it, and if you’re lucky, you might find a rare version.

While the recent bushfires have brought much global attention to the unique and rich wildlife of Australia, Lotte have actually been contributing to the preservation of koalas against dangers such as poaching, fires and loss off habitat from land development by supporting the Australian Koala Fund since 1994, which marked the 10th anniversary of Koala’s March’s release. According to the information on Lotte’s Koala’s March website, the koala population in the 20th century has dwindled from approximately three million to under 100,000, and understandably, funding is necessary for research to protect these lovable animals.

Let’s pray that the fires in Australia are brought under control soon and that we’ll be seeing many happy koalas in the near future.

Source: Lotte Koala’s March website
Related: Australain Koala Foundation
Top image: Lotte Koala’s March website
Insert images: Lotte online shop 
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[ Read in Japanese ]