OLD MASTERS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 27 May 1938, Page 10

OLD MASTERS

PROTECTION OF PLATYPUS AND KOALA. TWO ANCIENT AUSTRALIANS. Before it is too late Australia is tak-' ing care to keep on the continent two of the oldest Australians. These two, the duck-billed platypus and the koala bear, were there long before any man set foot near their haunts. They were there long before the Flood, long before the mammoth disappeared from Europe, and before the land bridge which joined Australia to Asia was swamped by the Pacific. Millions of years ago the duck-bill-ed platypus haunted the small watercourses and creeks of the island continent, for it belongs to a species midway between the reptiles and the mammals, laying eggs from which its young are hatched. It has no apparatus to regulate the heat of its body, and so must dwell in the cool recesses of streams. It is the shyest of creatures, and only once has it been kept for any length of time in the artificial conditions of a zoo. One which was taken to Melbourne for a visit of a scientific association was never seen by any of the zoologists, because it persisted in hiding in the mud of the tank. It is vanishing from Australian with the small watercourses. The koala bear is in a different plight. Australia has no large mammals, beyond the kangaroo tribe, to be hunted for their skins. But the ancient koala, no bigger than a goodsized teddy bear, and as harmless, has a furry coat. This possession has led almost to its extinction by people whose souls are in their pockets. Now Australia is showing that it believes these animals are rare beyond price. They are genuine Old Masters.