Stereotypes of Australian Natures

Hi everyone and welcome to my website. This website is for anyone who's interested in visiting Australia especially who are interested in Australian Wildlife and Nature.

As I have worked as a tourist guide, I've received so many questions containing many false facts and stereotypes of Australia. I know there are heaps regarding the Australian culture, but let's not talk about it now.

This blog is one of the main reasons that I have started to open this website (as well as my academic reasons).

Today, I'd like to break your stereotypes of Australian Natures and afterwards, i'l leave you some helpful tips before visiting Australia.

Here we go.

Aussie's have "Bring Your Koala to Work Day"

No. There is another common question which often gave me headaches. "Where can I buy a pet koala like other Aussies do?". The answer is "Unfortunately, as much as we'd like to, Aussies don't own pet koalas. " The reason will be explained further below. To be honest, these questions are not the most frequently asked, but there are certainly some tourists who believe koalas are as common as pigeons in Australia.

I also thought this when I first visited Australia, because their length is between 60 ~ 85 cm, weighing 5 ~ 13 kg, and live around 10 ~ 15 years. They sleep between 18 ~ 22 hours to conserve energy and have a relatively mild personality, which is an ideal characteristic for a house pet.

However, they are under problem of extinction, so the population of koalas is controlled under Australian Government. So, it is not permitted anywhere in the world to kept them as pets. It is illegal to have a koala as a pet anywhere, even in Australia. The only people who are permitted to have a koala in their possession, besides suitably authorised zoos, are, occasionally, scientists, and the people who are taking care of sick or injured koalas or orphaned joeys. These people must have a special permit from wildlife authorities to do this work and the carers must return the animals to the wild as soon as they are well enough or, in the case of joeys, old enough, to take care of themselves. Because of koalas’ unique physiological and dietary needs, it is a specialised job to take care of them and requires training from people who have experience in doing it.  koalas are wild animals.

Don’t you think they are better off in the wild eucalyptus forests than in our homes?

Are koalas part of the bear family?

Well, they kinda look like bears right? So, some tourists can find some similarities between a panda and a koala so, I can understand where it comes from. When the Europeans first came to Australia, they thought that Koalas looked like bears so they were often called ‘Koala bears’. Koalas are not bears – they are marsupials and their correct name is ‘Koalas’.

So, technically, they are more closely related to wombats and kangaroos.

Where or what is the Australian Outback?

To understand what is the Australian Outback you need to know that Australia is one of the most urbanised countries in the world.

Our population is concentrated in the cities along the southern and eastern coast, or not far from it.

The only other "populated" region is the area around the city of Perth on the southern west coast.

And that's it!

The Australian Outback is just about everywhere else... 6.5 million square kilometres of it (or 2.5 million square miles), inhabited by less than 60,000 people...

It's impossible to answer the question "Where is the Australian Outback?", because it is not a precise location. The term Outback is used to describe the emptiness, remoteness, and the huge distances of inland Australia, and the fact that most people still don't know much about it...

You will find that not all Australians talk about "the Outback". The further away from the cities we live, the less we are inclined to call it the Outback.

Australians talk about "the bush" when they refer to wilderness areas outside the cities. As they move further and further away from what they know as the bush, they eventually cross some invisible line and find themselves in the Outback, the part of Australia they don't know, the harsh and unforgiving interior... (well, is it?).

In a nutshell, if you are in a place where similar with the photo above, "Welcome to Outback".

Australia does not have much "Wild Beasts", so we don't need to worry about too much.

Yeah, you're correct. Because of the dry condition of Australia, it is rare to see "Wild Beasts "such as bears, bores or some dangerous mammals in forests.

The actual danger appears in the sky. They are called Magpies. September (Spring in Australia) is the peak of Australia's own version of "home-grown terrorism" (as memorably described to me by a distraught and bleeding school principal, valiantly attempting to protect his pupils), when a small but conspicuous proportion of magpies throughout the country begin to attack otherwise innocent passersby. It is certainly the most significant human-wildlife conflict in the towns and cities of this country.

Explanations for this all-too familiar behaviour are legion, with passionate advocates for more plausible theories such as:

* territoriality — they are trying to keep us out of their patch

* testosterone poisoning — they are so pumped with male juice they can't help * themselves colour trigger — they just hate orange/yellow/purple.

While there is a lot we don't yet know about this phenomena, all of the research conducted to date points clearly to the protective parent hypothesis.

Such tactics can be roughly placed into one of three categories:

1. attempts to change the magpies' behaviour

2. protection of the head

3. avoiding the "attack zone".

Please pay attention to the warning signs.

They are broadly spread from Melbourne to Gold Coast, the Eastern Australia. So, if you're planning to visit Australia during Spring seasons, please be aware of it.

And Don't forget!

Magpies are protected throughout Australia, and it is against the law to kill the birds, collect their eggs, or harm their young. If you feel that magpies are a serious menace, it should be reported to your local council. So, tourists like us, we need to keep eye on them and avoiding is the best solution.

People get mostly killed by Kangaroos, as they are aggressive.

American cartoons or Japanese fighting games may have created this stereotype but, yes it's partially true that Kangaroos can be aggressive if we don't respect their territory. Between 2008 and 2017 in Australia, 266 people died from an animal attack of some sort. At first glance, you won't find that surprising – after all, Australia is often thought of as a dangerous place.

But what might surprise you is the type of animal causing most of these deaths.

Is it one of the most venomous spiders in the world, the Redback Spider?

What about the Inland Taipan? This 2 metre (7 foot) long snake is the second most venomous land snake that has venom that can easily kill a human adult.

Or sharks?

Well, as it turns out, what caused the most deaths in Australia between 2008 and 2017 was not native wildlife at all.

In fact, if you want to stay safe in Australia, it's best to avoid… horses and cows.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the highest number of deaths by animal was 77 people - from horses, cows and other 'animal transport'.

With 60 people, it's just mammals (other). That doesn't include animals such as dogs or rats, so we can only assume it was muscled kangaroos and drop bears (see below). So, it's not like Kangaroos come out from nowhere and starting attack you randomly. Unless you invading their territory deeply, they won't be bothered much and will continue sleeping.

Stop fooling us. We know a predator called Drop Bear exist!

........ Yes. If you heard about Drop Bear, then you certainly have searched about Australian Wildlife. Well done.

I tell you what, here's a story from Australian Museum Website.

Drop Bear

Scientific name: Thylarctos plummetus

Updated05/06/19

The Drop Bear legend tells of a large, arboreal, predatory marsupial related to the Koala that 'drops' on it's prey.

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). The mythical creature is told as a heavily built animal with powerful forearms for climbing and holding on to prey. It lacks canines, but uses broad, powerful premolars as biting tools instead.

Habitat

Closed canopy forest as well as open woodland on the margins of dense forest. Never encountered near roads or in human habitation.

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 to South Australia, Mount Lofty Ranges and Kangaroo Island.

Feeding and diet

Stories of kill sites and examination of scats suggest mainly medium to large species of mammal make a substantial proportion of the animal's diet. Often, preys such as macropods are larger than the Drop Bear itself.

Drop Bears supposedly 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 unsuspecting victim. The initial 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 harassment from other predators.

Can access at: https://australianmuseum.net.au/learn/animals/mammals/drop-bear/

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So, a drop bear is a hoax in contemporary Australian Folklore featuring a predatory, carnivorous version of koala, like an urban legend. So, prepare eucalyptus leaves to 'tribute' for them. They will love your leaves much more than your flesh.

Thank you for reading this and I hope you guys have broken your stereotypes about Australian Nature and Wildlife. I'll post about 'the real deadly animals' exist in Australia very soon.