Blogroll
- bellyphant
- Fuzzy – not just a name, a way of life
- Gizmodo, the Gadget guide
- Harsher Light
- I’ll Book My Own Flights
- In My Place
- Once More … With Passion
- Over the falls
- Please don’t punch me
- rustybones
- stillhq.com : Mikal, a geek from Canberra living in Silicon Valley
- The Cluttered Desk
- Thrasherville
- Wistful Fission
Marketing, Advertising, and Software design
Useful things
Webcomics
Categories
Archives
- November 2012
- October 2012
- September 2012
- August 2012
- July 2012
- May 2012
- April 2012
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
Meta
Monthly Archives: December 2010
Drop Bear – Australian Museum
ANIMAL SPECIES:Drop Bear
The Drop Bear, Thylarctos plummetus, is a large, arboreal, predatory marsupial related to the Koala.
Identification
Around the size of a leopard or very large dog with coarse orange fur with some darker mottled patterning (as seen in most Koalas). It is a heavily built animal with powerful forearms for climbing and holding on to prey. It lacks canines, using broad powerful premolars as biting tools instead.
Size range
120kg, 130cm long, 90 cm at the shoulder.
Distribution
Drop Bears can be found in the densely forested regions of the Great Dividing Range in South-eastern Australia. However there are also some reports of them from South-east South Australia, Mount Lofty Ranges and Kangaroo Island.
Habitat
Closed canopy forest as well as open woodland on the margins of dense forest. Never encountered near roads or human habitatation.
Behaviour and adaptations
Feeding and Diet
Examination of kill sites and scats suggest mainly medium to large species of mammal make a substantial proportion of the animal’s diet. Often, prey such as macropods are larger than the Drop Bear itself.
Drop Bears hunt by ambushing ground dwelling animals from above, waiting up to as much as four hours to make a surprise kill. Once prey is within view, the Drop Bear will drop as much as eight metres to pounce on top of the unsusspecting victim. The enitial impact often stuns the prey, allowing it to be bitten on the neck and quickly subdued.
If the prey is small enough Drop Bears will haul it back up the tree to feed without harrasment from other predators.
Mating and reproduction
Breeding occurs during summer and usually one baby, or joey, is produced each year. After six months in the pouch, the joey is gradually weaned from milk,
Living with us
Danger to humans and first aid
Bush walkers have been known to be ‘dropped on’ by drop bears, resulting in injury including mainly lacerations and occasionally bites. Most attacks are considered accidental and there are no reports of incidents being fatal.
There are some suggested folk remedies that are said to act as a repellent to Drop Bears, these include having forks in the hair or Vegemite or toothpaste spread behind the ears. There is no evidence to suggest that any such reppellents work.
Classification
- Species:
- plummetus
- Genus:
- Thylarctos
- Order:
- Diprotodontia
- Subclass:
- Marsupialia
- Class:
- Mammal
- Subphylum:
- Vertebrata
- Phylum:
- Chordata
- Kingdom:
- Animalia
Chris Hosking , Interpretive Officer
Last Updated: 11 November 2010
Oprah better keep an eye out!
Posted in Uncategorized
The moving finger 