Talk:Koala

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Contents 1 Drop bears 2 cutest animal in existence 3 Ecological role? 4 Brains 5 No Water 6 Extinct in SA at some stage?? 7 The suggested merging of the Koala bear page with this page 8 External links, anyone? 9 The smell 10 Food 11 SemiProtect? 12 Donuts? 13 koalas as pets???? really? 14 Conservation Status problems 15 Images

[edit] Drop bears

This was added by an anonymous user, can someone confirm it's nonsense? Evercat 12:32 2 Jun 2003 (UTC)

A close relative of the koala, is the Drop-bear (phascolarctos cinereus extremis), it is much like the koala, only three times larger, they have distinctive large gripping talons and forearms; very sensitive to sound, they are named for propensity to become disoriented and fall upon parties of noisy unsuspecting tourists. The injuries caused as drop-bears frantically attempt to secure a hold on the torsos of their victims are quite horrific and their images have been suppressed by the Australian Government. Tourists are advised to wear crash-helmets when in the vicinty of eucalypts. They are known to be particularly aggravated by the tones and cadence of the North American accent.

Oh, it's entirely true, guys. People do tell the story, especially to tourists. It's one of the most common fictional animals around. Very well known. Err ... should I do a taxobox now? Tannin

Sure, and while you're at it, make one for wild haggis which roam free over the hills of Scotland. :-) Evercat 12:37 2 Jun 2003 (UTC)

Actually, we probably should move it over to "Culture of Australia", or "Legends of the Australian bush", or somewhere like that. Australia: only country in the world where drop bears still survive. :)

Hey Evercat, I think you're onto something. We should do a page. Call it Fictional national animals or something like that. It would be a lot of fun, and yet entirely appropriate material for an encyclopedia. Let's see now ...

• Australia: Drop Bears
• Scotland: Wild Haggis
• Tibet: The Abominable Snowman
• United States: Sasquach or whatever its name is - the one that leaves the giant furry footprints in the Rockies
• Scotland (again): Loch Ness Monster

Ahem -- I believe Sasquatch lives here in the Pacific NW -- I think the Cascades?? And what about the Jackalope and its German cousin? JHK

This could be fun! Tannin

Heh, nice idea. :-) Evercat

I'm in. Who's gonna start it? --Dante Alighieri 20:34 2 Jun 2003 (UTC)

LOL LOL. Don't froget mokole mebe or however you spell it for Congo. And The Beast Of Exmoor. Dora Nichov 12:59, 2 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] cutest animal in existence

"the Koala is the cutest animal in existence" is this vandalism or has this been scientifically proven? (it wouldnt surprise me if it had)

Not exactly vandalism, more like over enthusiasm. There is a idea that Darwin should be updated to become 'Survival of the cutest'. Or at least, now that we are in a world where human activities are affecting many environments, the best measure of fitness would be cuteness, since it is only attractive macro-fauna that people care about protecting -- you seldom see people campaigning to 'Save the Great Grey Slug'.

Given the number of programmes to help Koalas with their reproductive problems, it would suggest that Koalas have a cuteness quotient that is at least in the top 10%. -- Solipsist 08:38, 25 July 2005 (UTC)

My friend from Brisbane swears that they are not so cute. I will be adding in a section and I swear to you I'm not trying to be disgusting, but if an animal tries to come up a tree after a koale, they urinate on the intruder. I promise I'm not just being gross. --Waterspyder 04 November 2005

The addition about urination as a defence mechanisms is simply not true - an undocumented story that doesn't belong here. I have observed koalas for 30 years (and caught~ 800) and have never observed this behaviour and nor has any other koala biologist that I know of.

[edit] Ecological role?

Quote: The koala fills the same ecological role as the sloth of South America

What is this ecological role? I could find no information on what that role might be in the sloth article either. Donama 06:30, 5 November 2005 (UTC)

The role is what they do and maybe what they are. I'd guess the relevant characteristics are: leaf-eating, tree-dwelling, slow-moving, warm-blooded, medium-sized. The point is that although they aren't at all closely related, they have evolved to be similar and to act similarly through convergent evolution. Mark¹ 12:20, 5 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Brains

I read somewhere about "the reason koalas have small brains" (though this was a teaser which didn't tell you the reason). If there is some basis for this, it would be nice if someone could add 1) how small their brains are, and 2) why. Mark¹ 18:56, 28 November 2005 (UTC)

Wrote it myself. ;) Mark¹ 23:47, 4 December 2005 (UTC)

Okay, I know nothing about koalas in particular, and little about biology in general: I'm an electrical engineer (want me to solve a Laplace transform?). But isn't it at least highly probable that their small brains are related to their energy conservation (I think I read somewhere that the brain uses a large percentage of the energy (food) most mammals consume), and more importantly, the small brain within a large well-supported cranium would provide a "crash pad" to protect the brain in case this tree-dwelling creature misjudges the strength of a branch? Can we find a marsupiologist (is that even a real term?) who could suggest a reason? Yiddophile 23:18, 16 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] No Water

I was once told that Koala means 'no water' and that Koalas rarely drink. This seems like it should be mentioned but I can't find it any where.

The information is now on the article page. Figaro 03:55, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

The current reference for its meaning seriously doesn't look like a reliable source. In any case, I doubt gula has enough morphemes in it to mean "no drink" or "no water". --Ptcamn 14:38, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

A number of problems with the etymology section as it is now:

1. The spellings used are dated and inaccurate. Specifically, koolah looks like an old spelling of gula, mentioned above.
2. It isn't specific about which language each name is from. (It really annoys me how people always tend to lump them all together as "Aboriginal words", as if they were all the same. I mean, which group used "koala" to mean "no drink"? All of them?)
3. It says "koala" comes from the following Australian Aboriginal words... but it certainly doesn't "come from" all of them simultaneously! --Ptcamn 18:22, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

I have now added five further references about the word 'koala' meaning "does not drink", "no drink" and "animal that does not drink", to prove this fact. Figaro 22:38, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

That just means it's a widespread myth. People love to repeat interesting facts without bothering to check if they're true—the fact that none of them can actually say which language it's from, only that it's "an Aboriginal word", illustrates this. One of them also repeats the story of "kangaroo" meaning "I don't know", which is well-known to be a myth. ([1] [2]) --Ptcamn 08:44, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

I agree with Ptcamn - none of these sources cited are authoriative and "prove" nothing. e.g. the Sydney University source is a childreen's page within the Sydney University domain with no supporting evidence. If it had been an anthopological thesis on Aboriginal languages, then there might be some reason to cite it. I am surprised when I look at Figaro's profile that so little weight is put on sources. Maths must be more straightforward than Biology or Linguistics!! I believe this section needs to be cleaned up.

I deleted the references, for now. --KJ 02:27, 1 June 2006 (UTC)

Figaro, please don't just readd the same references without any explanation. Also, please use ref tags properly; don't use them as you would markup plaintext. --KJ 05:06, 3 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Extinct in SA at some stage??

Can this actually be verified by reference back to an official survey or something? I find it extremely difficult to imagine that this is physically possible (every single koala known to be dead) given the amount of suitable bush that would have been available. Presumeably if they were extinct then there should also be reports of koalas being introduced to all the places they are found now or reports of them migrating into these areas. Presumably there would also be reports in the papers of the day of "last koala killed" or "no koalas sighted for x years"?

[edit] The suggested merging of the Koala bear page with this page

The reason why the information is on the Koala bear page, and not on the Koala page is so that people will become aware that they are called Koalas and not Koala bears. This is an encyclopedia, where the correct name should be learned, at least. I am worried that if the information on the Koala bear page is merged with the Koala page, the misnomer of Koala bear will probably continue. Figaro 03:54, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

• It is a confusing and unnecessary page when the name issue can be discussed here. Inocorrect common names do no (as far as I have noticed) get wikipedia pages.--Peta 23:31, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

Redirected. End of story. - UtherSRG (talk) 00:25, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] External links, anyone?

Could useful external links be added?

By the way, I deleted a link because I found its site dubious; the site it led to had a photo of someone claiming "my name is John." The link was added by an advertiser; his blatantly commercial edits led me to another site, and I saw the same photo again. This time, it said that the person was named Jack Moore. --KJ 11:19, 1 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] The smell

Diff: [3]

Much as the Flamingo's bright color comes from the carotene they eat, the Koala has been observed as smelling like large cough drops due to their diet of eucalyptus.

Really? I thought koalas smelled awful. I once read this in the Reader's Digest: Some tourists in Australia were taken to see koalas. The tourists noticed a strong unpleasant smell, and the tour guide said that it was from eucalyptus leaves that the koalas eat. One tourist was familiar with eucalyptus and pointed out that koalas did not smell anything like eucalyptus, to which the guide replied, "That's what the eucalyptus smells like when it comes out of the koala!" --Kjoonlee 05:04, 16 July 2006 (UTC)

Anyone who knows about koalas smelling like eucalyptus, can you specify if this their natural odor, or because they're just rubbing against the leaves all day?Anerbenartzi 05:17, 30 August 2006 (UTC)

Koalas have been noted as smelling of eucalyptus -- an odor familiar to many as associated with cough drops.

I removed the above from the article. No references cited, and possibly incorrect. --Kjoonlee 05:27, 30 August 2006 (UTC)

I tried Googling for "Koala stink" instead of "Koala smell" and got this link: http://oceancolor.gsfc.nasa.gov/staff/gene/tasmania2.html

It has a very similar story; maybe I didn't read it in Reader's Digest after all. --Kjoonlee 05:38, 30 August 2006 (UTC)

The Australian Koala Foundation's Koala FAQ has some details: --Kjoonlee 05:37, 6 September 2006 (UTC)

My source on the smell is first-hand; I went camping with friends in the Great Otway National Park last year, and the area was full of koalas (noisy buggers kept us up at night). Some came walking through our campsite and let us pat them. And they do stink; it is a smell kind of like eucalyptus, but mixed with a foul sweaty smell. And it's STRONG. It seems to come from their chest. I patted one on the back and my hand didn't smell much, but another friend scratched it on the chest and it reeked! -- davo1000, 15 February 2007.

[edit] Food

Seems odd that a page on the koala has no mention of eucalyptus as a food - or maybe it has been deleted from an earlier version thru vandalism ....can someone re-insert the sections on food...TT —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 62.8.159.2 (talk • contribs) .

So I just re-inserted the original text that had been removed by vandals on food...the text seemed to stay stable for a while so presumably there will be no objections but there is still some stuff missing from the Ecology Section that should be returned...(and yes I will get around to registering ASAP)...TT—The preceding unsigned comment was added by 134.100.200.19 (talk • contribs) .

[edit] SemiProtect?

Do you guys think this page needs a semi-protect? It's had a lot of vandalism (why?!) -Patstuart 19:40, 27 September 2006 (UTC)

It's true it's getting vandalized a bit more than some other articles, but there are also articles that get even more vandalism that aren't semi-protected. Octopus, for example. --Kjoonlee 02:02, 28 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Donuts?

Koalas don't eat donuts. Isn't their major source of food eucalyptus trees? Is it some kind of vandalism? Since there isn't much reference about eucalyptus trees, and all there is stuff about donuts, and what kind of donuts they eat. I definitely think this is vandalism. Of course, if not, could you give me proof?cutienemo04

Yes, it was vandalism. You can check the "History" tab to see the various edits to help revert vandalism. - UtherSRG (talk) 11:52, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

The "donuts" thing is a reference to Wikipedia Brown, a parody of Encyclopedia Brown, much like the insertion of Paige Fox pictures on the warthog entry. 67.113.48.212 19:58, 22 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] koalas as pets???? really?

ok, there is a section of pets that says koalas are not normally kept as pets. is this really necessary if they dont? or should it not at least explain in more detail the legal status of them as pets? Daniel625 22:07, 15 January 2007 (UTC)

Well from my experience foreign people dont know we cant keep them as pets, so a legal status as to keeping them as pets is warrented, and maybe also the difficulty of keeping such an animal as a pet. Enlil Ninlil 05:04, 29 January 2007 (UTC)

hi this is FRIEND here koalas are my favorite animal and I know a lot about them I also know they might go extinct and I am willing to do anything to let that not happen and I am looking for people to help me! So please contact me at bluefan2516@hotmail.com and share your ideas!

Extinction, nar there as common as dog shit her in Victoria mate, cant run them over though too much blood.Enlil Ninlil 03:03, 1 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Conservation Status problems

Sigh. Thanks for the attempt at humour, Enlil Ninlil. Anyway, the conservation section of this article needs some serious cleanup. There are no references, and some of the statements are questionable at best.

For example, the koala was only hunted close to extinction in South Australia. The koala isn't considered to be in serious decline Australia-wide by the IUCN, nor by most state governments, although it is considered to be declining in some regions. The IUCN actually classes the koala as "potentially vulnerable, NOT "near threatened". Stating only the conservation status of koalas in those states where it is considered to be threatened is POV. For example, QLD considers the species to be "Common". Culling was not just "suggested", but is considered by most ecologists to be absolutely necessary. I will try to get some references for the AKF statements about conservation status.

If anyone else would like to help, that'd be great. CnsBiol 06:00, 18 February 2007 (UTC)

The IUCN has no "potentially vulnerable" classification. The reference shows it as "LR/nt", which is "near threatened". - UtherSRG (talk) 13:46, 18 February 2007 (UTC)

My apologies - you are correct. The Australian Koala Foundation have incorrect information on their website. However, the full IUCN classification for the Koala is "Lower Risk/Near Threatened", which has different connotations to simply "near threatened". I've altered the text slightly, and inserted the link. CnsBiol 03:04, 19 February 2007 (UTC)

Koals as pets is realy a srupid idea —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Aishe zq (talk • contribs) 14:34, 15 March 2007 (UTC).

[edit] Images

Dropped an old image at the bottom. The others need a bit of ordering IMHO. That left-right-left thing helps sometimes. Fred 13:02, 2 April 2007 (UTC)