Drop bear

For other uses, see dropbear (disambiguation).

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. T. carnifex is thought to have been an arboreal (tree-dwelling) predator that may well have ambushed prey by dropping on it from overhead branches, similar to how cougars often hunt.

The rather rare occurrence of koalas landing on people may also be a basis for the myth. Koalas have been known to fall out of trees, and on the rare occasion may accidentally land on a person. They generally do not attack under such circumstances, but they do tend to be aggressive when provoked, and can do considerable damage with their teeth and claws.

However, despite the merit or otherwise of these putative explanations it seems far more likely that drop bears started out simply as an excellent example of the dry Australian wit. This often is expressed by scaring newcomers or foreigners with alarming stories of the alleged dangers of the bush that are almost too incredible to believe but nevertheless the delivery is so deadpan that it convinces the listener of its veracity, unless he or she is uncommonly perceptive or is familiar with this type of joke. This approach can be test of the new person and he or she will be well regarded if they see through the joke, even if tentatively at first.

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 Australia-like 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 serves to protect Rincewind's head from the stunning blow of the bear, and stun the bear itself; when the first bear's attack is unsuccessful, a massive cadre of dropbears begins to fall from the trees out of sheer astonishment. When hearing about this later, the locals insist that drop bears 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]
• EV Nova, an Australian-designed 2002 computer game from Ambrosia Software contains attacks from Drop Bears in Auroran Empire space. Buying the Drop Bear Repellant from various Auroran outfitters causes you to get increased chances in being attacked by a Drop Bear.
• 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
• The hit TV show American Chopper features an episode where the crew from Orange County Choppers are informed of the infamous "Drop Bears".
• The "Hell Paradise Goala" from the Kyo Kara Maoh series resembles a Drop Bear.
• Dropbear is the name of a small SSH daemon in "embedded" Linux platforms, such as OpenWRT for wireless routers.

References

• Drop Bears - The Truth - A (probably humoristic) web site about drop bears.

See also

• Fictional national animals
• Bunyip
• Yowie
• Queensland Tiger