The koala is well known worldwide

The koala is well known worldwide and is a major draw for Australian zoos and wildlife parks. Compaq Presario C556CA CPU Fan It has been featured in advertisements, games, cartoons and as soft toys.[120] It benefited the Australian tourism industry by over an estimated billion dollars in 1998, a figure that has since grown.[121] In 1997, half of visitors to Australia, especially those from Korea, Japan, and Taiwan, sought out zoos and wildlife parks; SONY Vaio VGN-NR360E CPU Fan about 75 percent of European and Japanese tourists placed the koala at the top of their list of animals to see.[122] According to biologist Stephen Jackson: "If you were to take a straw poll of the animal most closely associated with Australia, it's a fair bet that the koala would come out marginally in front of the kangaroo".[120] HP Pavilion dv5170us CPU Fan Factors that contribute to the koala's enduring popularity include its childlike body proportions and teddy bear-like face.[123] Such affection for the species is reflected in a stand-up routine by comedian Mitch Hedberg, who stated, "My apartment is infested with koala bears. It's the cutest infestation ever. Way better than cockroaches".[124] SONY Vaio VPC-EE3WFX/WI CPU Fan The koala is featured in the Dreamtime stories and mythology of indigenous Australians. The Tharawal people believed that the animal helped row the boat that brought them to the continent.[125] Another myth tells of how a tribe killed a koala and used its long intestines to create a bridge for people from other parts of the world. HP G56-126NR CPU Fan This narrative highlights the koala's status as a game animal and the length of its intestines.[126] Several stories tell of how the koala lost its tail. In one, a kangaroo cuts it off to punish the koala for being lazy and greedy.[127] Tribes in both Queensland and Victoria regarded the koala as a wise animal and sought its advice. HP 3MLX8TATP20 CPU Fan Bidjara-speaking people credited the koala for turning barren lands into lush forests.[128] The animal is also depicted in rock carvings, though not as much as some other species.[129] Early European settlers in Australia considered the koala to be a prowling sloth-like animal with a "fierce and menacing look".[130SONY Vaio VGN-NW240F/S CPU Fan ] At the beginning of the 20th century, the koala's reputation took a more positive turn, largely due to its growing popularity and depiction in several widely circulated children's stories.[131] It is featured in Ethel Pedley's 1899 book Dot and the Kangaroo, in which it is portrayed as the "funny native bear".[130] SONY Vaio VPC-EB1Z0E/B CPU Fan Artist Norman Lindsaydepicted a more anthropomorphic koala in The Bulletin cartoons, starting in 1904. This character also appeared as Bunyip Bluegum in Lindsay's 1918 book The Magic Pudding.[132] Perhaps the most famous fictional koala is Blinky Bill. Created by Dorothy Wall in 1933, the character appeared in several books and has been the subject of films, Compaq Presario CQ60-514NR CPU Fan TV series, merchandise and a 1986 environmental song by John Williamson.[133] The first Australian stamp featuring a koala was issued by the Commonwealth in 1930.[134] A television ad campaign for Australia's national airline Qantas, starting in 1967 and running for several decades, featured a live koala (voiced by Howard Morris), who complained that too many tourists were coming to Australia and concluded "I hate Qantas".[135] Toshiba Satellite X205-S9800 CPU Fan The series has been ranked among the greatest commercials of all time.[136] The song "Ode to a Koala Bear" appears on the B-side of the 1983 Paul McCartney/Michael Jackson duet album Say Say Say.[133] A koala is the main character inHanna-Barbera's The Kwicky Koala Show and Nippon Animation's Noozles, ASUS G2P CPU Fan both of which were animated cartoons of the early 1980s. Food products shaped like the koala include the Caramello Koala chocolate bar and the bite-sized cookie snack Koala's March. Dadswells Bridge in Victoria features a tourist complex shaped like a giant koala,[119] and the Queensland Reds rugby team has a koala as its mascot.[137] The Platinum Koala coin features the animal on the reverse and Elizabeth II on the obverse. Compaq Presario CQ60-430SA CPU Fan In 2008, the International Union for Conservation of Nature listed the koala under Least Concern for the following reasons: "Its wide distribution, presumed large population, and because it is unlikely to be declining at nearly the rate required to qualify for listing in a threatened category."[1] DELL BFB0505HA CPU Fan Australian policy makers declined a 2009 proposal to include the koala in the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.[19] In 2012, the Australian Government listed koala populations in Queensland and New South Wales as Vulnerable, because of a 40% population decline in the former and a 33% decline in the latter. HP Pavilion dv5-1272et CPU Fan Populations in Victoria and South Australia appear to be abundant; however, the Australian Koala Foundation argues that the exclusion of Victorian populations from protective measures is based on a misconception that the total koala population is 200,000, whereas they believe it is probably less than 100,000. Toshiba AB7005HX-SB3 CPU Fan Koalas were hunted for food by Aboriginals. A common technique used to capture the animals was to attach a loop of ropey bark to the end of a long, thin pole, so as to form a noose. This would be used to snare an animal high in a tree, beyond the reach of a climbing hunter; Toshiba Satellite A500-18T CPU Fan an animal brought down this way would then be killed with a stone hand axe or hunting stick (waddy).[140] According to the customs of some tribes, it was considered taboo to skin the animal, while other tribes thought the animal's head had a special status, and saved them for burial.[141] The koala was heavily hunted by European settlers in the early 20th century,[142] HP Pavilion dv5-2135dx CPU Fan largely for its thick, soft fur. More than two million pelts are estimated to have left Australia by 1924. Pelts were in demand for use in rugs, coat linings, muffs, and as trimming on women's garments.[143] Extensive cullings occurred in Queensland in 1915, 1917, and again in 1919, when over one million koalas were killed with guns, poisons and nooses. ASUS EEE PC 1201NL CPU Fan The public outcry over these cullings was probably the first wide-scale environmental issue that rallied Australians. Novelist and social critic Vance Palmer, writing in a letter to the The Courier-Mail, expressed the popular sentiment: "The shooting of our harmless and lovable native bear is nothing less than barbarous ... SONY Vaio VGN-NW240D/T CPU Fan No one has ever accused him of spoiling the farmer's wheat, eating the squatter's grass, or even the spreading of the prickly pear. There is no social vice that can be put down to his account ... He affords no sport to the gun-man ... And he has been almost blotted out already from some areas." Compaq Presario CQ60-418DX CPU Fan Despite the growing movement to protect native species, the poverty brought about by the drought of 1926–28 led to the killing of another 600,000 koalas during a one-month open season in August 1927.[145] In 1934, Frederick Lewis, the Chief Inspector of Game in Victoria, said that the once abundant animal had been brought to near extinction in that state, SONY Vaio VGN-NW240D CPU Fan suggesting that only 500–1000 remained. The first successful efforts at conserving the species were initiated by the establishment of Brisbane's Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary and Sydney's Koala Park Sanctuary in the 1920s and 1930s. The owner of the latter park, Noel Burnet, SONY VGN-BX197XP CPU Fan became the first to successfully breed koalas and earned a reputation as the foremost contemporary authority on the marsupial.[148] In 1934, David Fleay, curator of Australian mammals at the Melbourne Zoo, established the first Australian faunal enclosure at an Australian zoo, and featured the koala. Toshiba Satellite L645D-S4056 CPU Fan This arrangement allowed him to undertake a detailed study of its diet in captivity. Fleay later continued his conservation efforts at Healesville Sanctuary and theDavid Fleay Wildlife Park. Since 1870, koalas have been introduced to several coastal and offshore islands, including Kangaroo Island and French Island. Toshiba AB7805HX-GB3 CPU Fan Their numbers have significantly increased,[150] and since the islands are not large enough to sustain such high koala numbers,overbrowsing has become a problem.[151] In the 1920s, Lewis initiated a program of large-scale relocation and rehabilitation programs to transfer koalas whose habitat had become fragmented or reduced to new regions, Toshiba Satellite L500-208 CPU Fan with the intent of eventually returning them to their former range. For example, in 1930–31, 165 koalas were translocated to Quail Island. After a period of population growth, and subsequent overbrowsing of gum trees on the island, about 1300 animals were released into mainland areas in 1944. The practice of translocating koalas became commonplace; HP 535441-001 CPU Fan Victorian State manager Peter Menkorst estimated that from 1923 to 2006, about 25,000 animals were translocated to more than 250 release sites across Victoria.[152] Since the 1990s, government agencies have tried to control their numbers by culling, but public and international outcry has forced the use of translocation andsterilisation instead.[153] Toshiba Satellite P100-444 CPU Fan One of the biggest anthropogenic threats to the koala is habitat destruction and fragmentation. In coastal areas, the main cause of this is urbanisation, while in rural areas habitat is cleared for agriculture. Native forest trees are also taken down to be made into wood products.[154] Since Europeans arrived, localised deforestation of eucalypts in Australia ranges from 33 to 93%. HP Pavilion dv7-3114eo CPU Fan In addition, Acacia habitats, which can also support koala populations, declined by 80% overall. In 2000, Australia ranked fifth in the world by deforestation rates, having cleared 564,800 hectares (1,396,000 acres).[155] The geographical range of the koala has shrunk by more than 50% since European arrival, largely due to fragmentation of habitat in Queensland.[46] HP Mini 110-1125SA CPU Fan The koala's "vulnerable" status in Queensland and New South Wales means that developers in these states must consider the impacts on this species when making building applications.[139] In addition, koalas live in many protected areas.[1] While urbanisation can pose a threat to koala populations, the animals can survive in urban areas provided there are enough trees.[156] HP KSB06105HA CPU Fan Urban populations have distinct vulnerabilities: collisions with vehicles and attacks by domestic dogs kill about 4000 animals every year.[98] Injured koalas are often taken to wildlife hospitals and rehabilitation centres.[156] In a 30-year retrospective study performed at a New South Wales koala rehabilitation centre, Compaq Presario CQ60-210eo CPU Fan it was found that trauma (usually resulting from a motor vehicle accident or dog attack) was the most frequent cause of admission, followed by symptoms of chlamydia infection.[157] Wildlife caretakers are issued with special permits but have to release the animals back into the wild when they are either well enough or, in the case of joeys, old enough. HP Pavilion dv7-2250sf CPU Fan As with most native animals, the koala cannot legally be kept as a pet in Australia or anywhere else. Megaladapis, informally known as koala lemur,[1][2] is an extinct genus belonging to the family Megaladapidae, consisting of three extinct species of lemurs that once inhabited the island of Madagascar. The largest measured between 1.3 to 1.5 m (4 to 5 ft) in length. HP 434678-001 CPU Fan Megaladapis was quite different from any living lemur. Its body was squat and built like that of the modern koala. Its long arms, fingers, feet, and toes were specialized for grasping trees, and its legs were splayed for vertical climbing. The hands and feet were curved and the ankles and wrists did not have the usual stability needed to travel on the ground that most other Lemurids have.[3] HP G60-230us CPU Fan Its head was unlike any other primates, most strikingly, its eyes were on the sides of its skull, instead of forward on the skull like all other primates. Its long canine teeth and a cow-like jaw formed a tapering snout. Its jaw muscles were powerful for chewing the tough native vegetation. Its body weight reached 50 kilograms (110 lb). HP Pavilion dv6365us CPU Fan The shape of its skull was unique among all known primates, with a nasal region which showed similarities to those of rhinoceros, what was probably a feature combined with an enlarged upper lip for grasping leaves. An endocast of the skull was taken and it was found that the brain capacity was about 250cc. This is about 3 to 4 times the size of a common cat's.[4] HP 535439-001 CPU Fan Megaladapis evolved because the island's topography was always changing. Along with the other lemurs, Megaladapis specialized within its own niche. The general expectations of tree climbers such as Megaladapis is that with an increase in size, the body's forelimbs will also increase proportionally. COMPAQ 6910c CPU Fan It is often believed that Malagasy legends of the tretretretre or tratratratra, an extinct animal, refer to Megaladapis, but the details of these tales, notably the "human-like" face of the animal, match the related Palaeopropithecus much better. When humans arrived, between 1,500 and 2,000 years ago, IBM Lenovo IdeaPad G510 CPU Fan the archaeological record shows that they cleared large areas of the island using "slash-and-burn" techniques. Unable to adapt to the environmental changes and the presence of humans,Megaladapis became extinct approximately 500 years ago. Megaladapis has been found around the marsh of Ambolisatra on the southwestern HP G62-110SO CPU Fan side of Madagascar and was one of multipleMegafauna that went extinct on Madagascar during this time period. They were also slow-moving creatures that were active during the day. This might have made them more susceptible to predators, forest fires, habitat destruction, and possibly introduced pathogens. DELL Precision M6400 CPU Fan Sam (died 6 August 2009), also known as Sam the Koala, was a female koala from the forests of Mirboo North, Victoria,Australia. She became publicly known when a video and photographs of her being rescued by a firefighter were distributed on the internet and through the media during the aftermath of the Black Saturday bushfires. SONY Vaio VPC-EB290X CPU Fan A mobile phone video of the event,[1] which attracted just under 1,200,000 hits on YouTube,[2] shows firefighter David Tree approaching Sam who initially attempts to flee but then stops—Tree later speculated that the koala had been thinking "I can't run, I'm weak and sore, put me out of my misery"—and Tree calls for water.[1] HP Envy 17-1090eo CPU Fan Sam is then shown drinking from a bottle he is holding for her.[3] She is also seen allowing herself to be patted, and holding her paw on his hand. Sam became a symbol of hope.[4] It was initially thought that Sam had been rescued by Tree following theFebruary 2009 Victorian bushfires; Toshiba Satellite A210-1CF CPU Fan however, the event actually occurred in the week before the worst of the fires, duringbackburning operations initiated by firefighters.[5] Tree and his crew came across Sam when they were blacking out[6][7]after the fires had gone through. The video was recorded by Tree and other firefighters; it had been intended for Tree's daughter. Dell Vostro 3450 CPU Fan Sam was subsequently taken to the Southern Ash Wildlife Centre in Rawson[8] where she was found to be suffering fromsecond-degree burns to her paws and given painkillers.[1][9] Caretakers at the shelter expected that it would take her about eight months to recover.[1][10] Based on the condition of her teeth, the shelter manager estimated her to be between two and four years old.[1] Toshiba Satellite A10-103 CPU Fan She was placed with a male koala named Bob,[10] who had been rescued from another of the bushfire areas two days earlier and was suffering from third-degree burns. Sam's story was featured in media outlets worldwide, including The New York Times and CNN.[11] Gossip site TMZ.com mocked the rescue, calling Sam "pampered";[12Compaq Presario A900 CTO CPU Fan ]this drew significant reader backlash and attention. TMZ later apologised to Sam.[13] Sam was euthanised on 6 August 2009. The decision was made after exploratory surgery on her urinary bladder and uterus to evaluate the possible removal of cystscaused by urogenital chlamydiosis. ACER Aspire 4736ZG CPU Fan As her condition was inoperable the veterinarian stated that the decision was made to euthanise to prevent her suffering.[14]Sam's remains were moved to Melbourne Museum where they were preserved as a symbol of the bushfires. An image of Sam with David Tree was used as cover art on a fundraising CD, Toshiba Satellite A10-103 CPU Fan Bushfire Aid, to which 35 national and international artists donated songs. All proceeds were donated to the Salvation Army Bushfire Appeal.[17] A total of A$300,000 was also raised for the Country Fire Authority and other charities through selling photographs of Sam's rescue.[18] SONY MCF-519PAM05 CPU Fan In February 2009, an application was made to register the words "Sam the Koala" as a trademark for chocolates[19] and in August 2009 media reported a dispute. On 20 February 2009 and 13 March 2009, an application was made to register the words "Sam the Koala" as a trademark in Class 30 (for chocolates) and as a trademark in Class 16 (for colouring-in books). SONY Vaio VPC-EB290X CPU Fan