Australians Plan Refuges for "Teddy Bears"

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Volume 81, Issue 73, 18 December 1937, Page 18

Australians Plan Refuges for "Teddy Bears"

MELBOUBNE. — Australians are seriously concerned at wbat they beIieve to be the inevitable eventual extinction of the little nativ© "Teddy bear," the koala. The bear Ibreeds slowly, For years it has been.wagiug a losing suxvival struggle against the burning of bushlands and the continued spread of human settlement. Although so popular with human beings, it cannot. live happily in human surroundings, Vietoria provides an example of the gradual disappearance of the koala. It is protected from human depredations by the Fisheries and Game Department, but natural causes are steadily reducing the koala population. From being a familiar sight in most parts of the State, the little bear is now almost confined to the islands of Westernport Bay, to parts of South Gippsland and to the Healesville district inland from Melbourne. The Sir Colin Mackenzie sanctuary at Bsdger Creek, Healesville, is always included in the itineraries of tourists and there the bears can bo seen feeding contentedly on mountain gums. There is a possibility that Yictoria will extend this Badger Creek sanctuary by purchasing an adjoining reserve. This was once an aboriginal settlement, but is now devoted to grazing. Sanctuary extension is believed to be necessary by koala observers who say the Westernport islands will eventually be deprived of suitable eucalypt leaves by present koala colonies. Bound-trip tourists always cast covetous eyes on the koalas, and in New South Wales, where the bears are now almost extinct, the export ban has oocasionally been stretched. Several bears have gone to California, where transplanted Australian gums and climatic similarities have enabled them to survive for a time. San Diego Zoological gardens once acquired several and they lived for some time in captivitv there. The London zoo received a conple from an English sailor who kept them alive on the homeward voyage with milk and vegetables; in London, however, they did not survive owing to continued lack of Australian gum-tree foliagc. ,