All Koalas » European settlers http://www.allkoalas.com All about koalas Sat, 17 Jul 2010 08:37:33 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 An early account of the koala… http://www.allkoalas.com/an-early-account-of-the-koala-407 http://www.allkoalas.com/an-early-account-of-the-koala-407#comments Mon, 22 Sep 2008 09:31:27 +0000 Captain-Koala http://www.allkoalas.com/?p=407 The following observation was made by early European settlers encountering the Koala:

He keeps his little round eyes fixed on yours, blinking solemnly; and all you can do is wriggle with delight at your discovery that in this disillusioned grown-up world you have met the most lovable toy of your childhood come to life. Here is the very teddy bear Aunt Alice gave you when you were three. If Aunt Alice put her hand deep down into her handbag and did you really proud, the two are the same size. Perhaps not the same colour, for koala favours grey or silver or a glossy browny-black, and goes in for white waistcoasts; but otherwise, front view, they are twins. The same big bushy ears: the same trusting little face; the same absurd button of a nose.

Source:
Wood, T. (1934), Cobbers: A personal record of a journey from Essex, in England, to Australia, made in the years 1930, 1931, and 1932, London: Oxford University Press, p. 147.

Jackson, Stephen. Koala : Origins of an Icon. Belmont: Allen & Unwin, 2008.

]]> http://www.allkoalas.com/an-early-account-of-the-koala-407/feed 0 Unobservant Settlers http://www.allkoalas.com/unobservant-settlers-404 http://www.allkoalas.com/unobservant-settlers-404#comments Thu, 18 Sep 2008 09:30:44 +0000 Captain-Koala http://www.allkoalas.com/?p=404 According to Stephen Jackson, in Koala origins of an icon, the European settlers did not discover the koala for ten years after arriving on the Australian continent! For ten whole years they somehow missed the slow-moving, unobtrusive animals. Was this luck on the part of the animal or are they more intelligent than we give them credit for being? Afterall, look at how well other animals, fauna and native people fared at the hands of European settlers. Once the settlers did discover the koala, they could not decide what sort of animal they were exactly. They wondered if they were monkeys, sloths, bears or even a type of wombat. Many were confused further by miscommunication with the Australian natives. It would be years before they could accurately identify the koala.

Too bad the natives weren’t so lucky to go unnoticed…

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