SPECIES OF MAMMALS OF THE PACIFIC AREA 29 



The Koala or "Native Bear" (Phascolarctos), one of the fa- 

 vorite Australian mammals in zoological gardens or in pic- 

 tures, appears bear-like only because of its chunky build and 

 tailless condition. The fur is dense, woolly, and gray in color. 



Fig. IS— Koala 



The ears are short, limp, heavily furred, and the hands agree 

 with those of the ring-tails in having the index finger together 

 with the thumb opposable against the other fingers. The head 

 and body are thirty to thirty-two inches long. 



These rather lumbering tree-climbers have the ability to 

 spring from one nearly upright branch to another vertical 



