Drop bear

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A drop bear (or dropbear) is a mythical Australian marsupial supposedly related to the koala.

Drop bears are commonly said to be unusually large, vicious, carnivorous koalas that inhabit treetops and attack their prey by dropping onto their heads from above. They are an example of local lore intended to frighten and confuse outsiders, and amuse locals, similar to the jackalope or pacific northwest tree octopus.

Some suggest that the drop bear myth is designed to discourage children from straying needlessly below eucalyptus trees, protecting them from the very real danger of getting hit by a falling branch. Arbitrary detachment of old branches is common with certain species of the eucalyptus plant, especially during drought and during cold nights, or at any other time for no discernable reason.

The drop bear myth appears to have first appeared during the latter half of the 20th century, and may have its origins with the Phascolarctos stirtoni, the carnivorous Phascolarctos involus or perhaps the Thylacoleo carnifex, which belong to a group of extinct animals known as Australian megafauna. The prehistoric creatures were approximately twice the size of modern koalas. The thylacoleo is thought to have been an arboreal predator that may well have ambushed prey by dropping on it from overhead branches.

Stories of drop bears are often related to unsuspecting foreign visitors to illustrate Australian deadpan humour. It is suggested that doing ridiculous things like having forks in the hair or Vegemite or toothpaste spread behind the ears will deter the creatures. (Such precautions are lent credibility by the fact that Australian Magpies can be deterred from attacking by wearing sunglasses on the back of your head.)

The drop bear myth is also a popular in-joke amongst Australian backpackers, who can rely on other Australians that they've just met at overseas hostels to play along with the joke without prior arrangement.

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Drop bears in popular culture

  • Dropbears appear in the novel The Last Continent by Terry Pratchett. In that novel, the wizard Rincewind travels through the continent of FourEcks, and is attacked by some of the creatures while traveling through the desert. Rincewind is wearing the traditional pointed hat, which impales the creature.
  • The Dropbears was a Sydney, Australia band from 1981 until 1985, with members Johnny Bachelor, Chriss Cross, Jamie Elliot, Phil Hall, Robert Hearne, Michael Knapp and Simon Rudin. They had a minor charting hit with Shall We Go in 1985. [1]
  • Drop bears appear in the Australian-made game "Escape Velocity: Nova." The game's drop bears are actually human(specifically, Auroran) pranksters in disguise. "Drop bear repellant" may be purchased, but this will only single out the player as a gullible customer, and increase the frequency of drop bear attacks.
  • Drop Bears have also appeared in the webcomics Indie Tits (November 7-14, 2005) and User Friendly.
  • dropbear is a SSH 2 server and client that is designed to be small enough to be used in low-memory embedded environments, while still being functional and secure enough for general use.
  • A 2004 commercial for Bundaberg Rum showed three Scandinavian women camping under a tree, when four Australian men stated that they shouldn't camp there as there were "drop bears - a bigger meaner koala bear" and that "they grab your head". Laughing this off they return to setting up camp when "Bundy Bear", the seven-foot tall polar bear mascot for Bundaberg Rum, falls from the tree above. The girls then run in fear into the Australian men's camp.
  • The d20 Modern Menace Manual has a Drop Bear listed.
  • An episode of The Paul Hogan Show in 1981 featured killer koalas in a sendup of Raiders of the Lost Ark called Wreckers of the Lost Park. These killer koalas would drop out of trees and attack people.
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See also

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External links

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