Aussie Love (Retired)

Despite its plump, child-like proportions, fluffy ears, and cute Teddy Bear face, the Koala Bear of Australia is not a bear. Koala is a marsupial cousin to the wombat and the kangaroo.The koala is very important to Aboriginal culture and mythology. The Dreamtime stories tell of a koala rowing the boat that brought indigenous peoples to the continent. The name "koala" means "no water" in the Dharug language because the indigenous people believed the koala never needed to drink. The Dreamtime tale tells of a lazy, greedy koala who hoarded water in a secret place while everyone else suffered from drought and thirst. A lyrebird caught the selfish koala hanging by his long tail from a tree limb, gulping mouthfuls from his hidden cache of water. The furious lyrebird set fire to the tree, which dispersed the much-needed moisture and scorched the retreating koala's hind end. To this day, the koala has no tail. Though it does drink water occasionally, the koala's sole diet of eucalyptus leaves