Drop bear
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A drop bear (or dropbear) is a fictional Australian marsupial said to be 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 (usually American tourists), and amuse locals, similar to the jackalope, hoop snake, haggis or snipe hunting.
Stories of drop bears are often told to unsuspecting foreign visitors to illustrate Australian morbid humour. It is often suggested that doing ridiculous things like having forks in the hair or Vegemite or toothpaste spread behind the ears will deter the creatures.
Basis of the Myth
There are several possible origins of the drop bear myth.
Some suggest that it 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, which are known as 'widow-makers' for this very reason. Similar theories are attached to the cone from the bunya tree.
Another possibility is that the myth is based on a real animal. It appears to have first appeared during the latter half of the 20th century, and may have its origins with Phascolarctos stirtoni, the carnivorous Phascolarctos involus or perhaps 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. Thylacoleo is thought to have been an arboreal (tree-dwelling) predator that may well have ambushed prey by dropping on it from overhead branches.
Drop bears in popular culture
- Dropbears are mentioned by prisoners in the novel "The Dead of the Night" by John Marsden. The prisoners are attempting to scare the soldier supervising them, and succeed.
- 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 wizard's hat, which impales the creature. When hearing about this later, the locals insist that dropbears don't really exist.
- 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]
- Escape Velocity Override, a 1998 computer game from Ambrosia Software, features several outfitters that sell "drop bear repellant", a product which does nothing and cannot be resold. In the sequel, Escape Velocity Nova, carrying the repellent will subject you to being attacked by Auroran drop bears.
- 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" 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. [2]
- Drop bears (implied to be genetically engineered koalas) are used as an air-to-ground anti-personnel weapon in the Marvel comic Nextwave.
- Drop bears featured repeatedly in webcomic IndieTits by Jeph Jacques in November 2005. When their existence was refuted by one of the characters the others explained that they must be real as they have a dedicated Wikipedia page.
- Drop Bears was the name of a cover band from Brisbane, Australia that was named without the knowledge of the other Australian band by the same name (1997-2003).
- Drop Bear was the name of a track by Sydney underground band Salacious Crumb in 1997. It was from an EP called Brainwash.
- Drop Bear was also the name of a track released in 1999 on Full Cycle Records (FCY021) by Bristol based drum and bass producer DJ Die.
- Drop bears are among the enemies presented in the d20 Menace Manual.
- The Drop Bear Café was an establishment in Darby Street, Newcastle, NSW. The surrounding area has a lot of backpacker accommodation, so the Café mainly catered to tourists.
- Sydney cartoonist Ian Dalkin produced "Derek the Dropbear" for the last 18 months worth of editions of the Sydney Sun newspaper. The Sun folded in the late 80s. Derek the Dropbear is in the process of being relaunched online (2007).
- Drop bears feature in some strips of the webcomic User Friendly, starting April 22nd, 2005