70 EXTINCT AND VANISHING MAMMALS 



vival, not alone in New South Wales and Victoria where exploita- 

 tion, denudation of habitat, and disease have brought this unique 

 animal to the verge of extinction. It is in Queensland especially, 

 where coastal forests of the south-east provide the last stronghold 

 and hope of survival, that total protection should never again be 

 withdrawn." (Troughton, 1938, p. 408.) 



Victorian Koala 



PHASCOLARCTOS CINEREUS VICTOR Troughton 



Phascolarctos cinereus victor Troughton, Australian Nat., vol. 9, pt. 6, p. 139, 



1935. ("French Island," Western Port Bay, Victoria.) 

 FIGS.: Victorian Nat., vol. 51, no. 3, pis. 11-15, 1934. 



Once very common over most of Victoria and in southeastern 

 South Australia, this subspecies had become reduced by 1934 to 

 about 1,000 individuals in Victoria. 



Body more robust than in P. c. cinereus; coat longer, sparser, 

 and hairier, especially on rump and ears; coloration richer, de- 

 cidedly brown; ears brownish outside, white inside; auburn groin 

 patches extending across the inguinal region; belly brown (Trough- 

 ton, 1935, p. 139) . White area on throat and chest frequently pro- 

 longed to nape, forming a complete collar. Head and body: three 

 males, 800-830 mm.; one female, 730 mm. (Finlayson, 19356, pp. 

 223-224.) 



The Koala's status in Victoria is thus reviewed by Lewis (1934, 

 pp. 73-74) : 



There is very good evidence that forty or fifty years ago "Native Bears" 

 were exceedingly common over almost the whole of Victoria. Now the species 

 is almost extinct on the mainland, a very few Koalas surviving in the 

 Inverloch district and in South Gippsland around Welshpool, Toora, Foster, 

 etc. Others are living and, I am glad to say, thriving on the islands in 

 Western Port Bay. I estimate that there are now not more than 1,000 Koalas 

 in this State. 



On the mainland of Victoria, I feel certain, the Koala is doomed to early 

 extinction, and will never be re-established, excepting perhaps in some reserves 

 which may be specially set apart for its protection and conservation, such as 

 the Badger Creek Sanctuary, near Healesville. . . . 



From inquiries I have made among well informed people, it appears that 

 the favourite "sport" of the young men and boys of thirty or forty years ago 

 was shooting Native Bears. Their ideas of "sport" must have been very 

 primitive, because no more inoffensive and easily-destroyed animal than the 

 Koala lives in any part of the world. . . . 



Immense numbers of Koalas must have been destroyed by those young 

 "sportsmen" of an earlier- generation than ours, but there seems never to have 

 been any regular hunting with a view to marketing the skins. Yet the fur 

 is very thick and warm, and, I am told, is in great demand by men living in 

 Northern Canada and Europe .... 



