Show v ay T R A 91 B prepared by the Nat national ionta geographic society washington D C service F ANT AN imaginative child could be I 1 II 11 transported from a visit to tin an american toy shop to the midst of an australian eucalyptus forest and there shown for the first time the australian native bear or koala climbing among the branches and nibbling the leaves lie he would be liard hard to convince con coni once ince that the teddy bears he had been inspecting had not been brought mag magically leally to life for the koala with will his round roly poly body short arms and pointed nose Is the living prototype of the jolly toy bear that helps make christmas morning merry in many an american nursery koalas khalas are found in eastern and southeastern australia but do not occur on any of the neighboring islands or inline athe western half of the lie continent they were probably once the most common animals in the australian bush but about 10 40 years ago a widespread epidemic overtook them and they died by thousands they also were hunted extensively for the sake of their warm thick fur and as a result are now extinct in new south wales A few hundred are still to be found in victoria in carefully protected loca localities lides and a fair number remain in queensland little Is known of the nature of the disease that so really neaily exterminated them but study shidy Is being beang given the subject now with a view to preserving the remnants ot of this formerly numerous species the koala Is one of the most interesting of australian animals ile he has a thick grayish colored fur a prominent black nose and stands about two feet high A good specimen weighs about 30 pounds ue be Is one of the most inoffensive animals imaginable doing no harm barm or damage to anyone or anything he lives in trees essentially an arboreal and mainly nocturnal animal he spends his time in the branches of certain species of eucalyptus trees where he feeds at night might upon the tender young leaves if approached he be will sit and stare at the intruder with a surprised expression and only it if danger threatens he will climb to the topmost branches lie he Is rather inactive especially in summer and often sits in the fork ot of a tree sleeping the daylight hours away the adult males are fond ot of perching themselves on a dead limb at the top ot of a tall tree from which they appear to enjoy their survey of the surrounding landscape they have five toes on each foot and each toe Is armed with a curved needle sharp claw the toes are in groups of twos and threes the two claws being in the form of a double thumb they are thus enabled to climb easily and also to grasp the branches ot of a tree and pull them down tor for the purpose of feeding on the leaves even an iron tele telegraph griph post offers no obstacle to their climbing powers and they have been seen sitting sitting among the wires on top of one although it Is 19 difficult to say what motive tool took them into such a position A tall nags flag talt starr seems to present an irresistible temptation and even on the windiest win diest of 0 days they climb such posts to perch on the top the leases ot of certain kinds of 0 the australian eucalyptus gum trees form their staple diet although occasionally sio nally they feed on the barks of certain trees and on sphagnum MOSS mobs perhaps as a tonic or medicine they never drink water in a state of matuie but are apparently able to obtain enough moisture from feidel feeding on the juicy gum shoots from which the commercial eucalyptus oil Is extracted make delightful pets koalas khalas lire are such quaint and attractive little creatures that they are much in demand as aa household pets they are very easily tamed but as they grow older they are arc careless of the fact that their claws have a needlelike sharpness which will easily penetrate the thih thickest est and strongest cloth although when living in the bush they take luke no liquid in captivity they quickly acquire a taste for weak sweetened c ned tea and starchy foods this depravity is the cale cal cau e of their undoing for if glan such things in mistaken kindness they sjon begin to lose condition and in it a few months dle die from 1 cn when ral fed only on eucalyptus leaves they are difficult to keep allie in ID captivity because of their unique interest and the difficulty of 0 keeping them ailse in c confinement and bec because aue of their now decreased numbers the victorian government strictly forbids their capture cut but in order that they may be seen under normal conditions they are gradually being established in suitable places where there Is an abundance bunda and variety of 0 their natural foods it Is now possible within a two hour run ot of melbourne with its wore more than a million inhabitants to see the file koala in his native gum trees and it is hoped through the exercise of 0 strict pro protective teeth measures to preserve this interesting little animal for posterity joey reared in pouch the koala Is a marsupial having a pouch in which the single cub joey in the language of 0 the bush after birth la in a very immature state is sheltered and fed for some months when about six inches in length it gradually leaves the pouch and spends its time in its mothers arms not clasped by the mother because she needs all her toes for hanging onto the trees but clinging to her ber thick fur by means of 0 its own sharp little claws this is the usual position of tle the young until it Is big enough to look ionic after itself but it danger threatens necessitating active climbing on the part of the mother the soung youngster ster quickly clambers wound upon her back so as not to hamper her movements there it hangs on securely while she climbs to safety I 1 balas koalas are as a rule silent but alien vi hen frightened or annoyed will cry very much like a child in some of their habits they closely resemble human buman huan buan in an beings A mother bear has been seen to cult cuff her little one probably for some transgression of bush law until it cried as lf if brokenhearted broken hearted contrary to what one might think the bears are very unsociable among themselves it Is extremely rare to find more than one in a tree unless it be a very large tree even where eliere they are fairly abundant they seem to prefer a solitary life A yew lew years ago a number were placed on an island tor for their better protection tec tion and when visited later had scattered over the whole extent ot of the place none being closer than or 0 yards to another |