Damn Australians everywhere

At risk of being stamped as a pedant, I recently learned that Koalas are in fact..........not bears.

Thanks Mona. It was from a Chinese site and I was totally confused.


Has anyone from the UK seen the fantastic nature program "Wild China" currently showing on the BBC. I'm just listening on Irish radio to an interview with one of the makers?

Dear Pedant, thank you for your information, because of your very helpful interjection I just realised that I am related to Koalas:

"They are very placid animals, and do not move around much, they are only active for about 2 hours of the day."

You're a scream, Koala.

When playing golf at my little village golf course the other day, we had to stop for a koala crossing the fareway and choosing the right tree. Bloody beautiful.
They are called bears because they looked like Ted Roosevelt, thus teddy bear became an influence.

Here in OZ, we have stopped calling them bears (mostly), they are in fact marsupials, like kangaroos and wombats, they are most closely related to wombats. And yes they are lethargic, until you try to catch a wild one, then they bite and scratch you to pieces. I have a young friend who is a koala handler at a sanctuary, she often comes home with bite marks and scratches, still, a tame one in a good mood is totally captivating. You have to hold them correctly though, if they feel that they have to hold on, watch out for the claws, extremely sharp!

who would've thought: toads and koalas are related!!
glad to be of use in new scientific discoveries