2007-02-16 16:01:08 · 6 answers · asked by Harry T 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Zoology
Aboriginal Australians used to eat them. Europeans tend to find the flesh unpalatable but it is not toxic. They are completely protected these days although there is likely to be a big cull on Kangaroo Island near Adelaide in the near future. There are about 30,000 koalas on the island to which they were introduced many years ago. That is about 20,000 too many and the excess has to go. There are few suitable habitats without koalas on the mainland so most will be shot.
By the way, Aboriginal myths did not include gods. There was a spirit world from which many animals developed. While the animals such as koalas might remind the people of the spirits, the animals themselves were neither spirits nor gods.
2007-02-17 06:22:09 · answer #1 · answered by tentofield 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well they did at one time. Most are protected now.
"The koala is killed by foxes, dogs, dingoes, and most of all, humans and forest fires." http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/koala_bear.htm
"Australian Aboriginal legends regarded koalas as tree-dwelling gods that can ... reverential respect for koalas even though they doubled as their food source" www.koalajo.com/PDF/Koalas_Allure.pdf
2007-02-17 03:01:23 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Not if they know what they're doing. Koala meat tastes horrible and is toxic to humans. It comes from their diet of eucalyptus, which is also toxic.
2007-02-17 00:05:23 · answer #3 · answered by juicy_wishun 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
it's koala and they aren't bears...they're marsupials...and no you can't eat them. All they eat is eucalyptus and it makes their meat inedible. Besides which they're on the endangered species list.
2007-02-17 00:06:39 · answer #4 · answered by Chrys 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
In Australia they have Koalah bear soup.
Tasmanians suffocate them and use them as cushions until they begin to smell. New Zealanders club them to death, and fry up their entrails in a primative stew. On your next trip to Australia make sure to bring a gun. They are fun to shoot because they are slow movers and easy to hit. Its fun watching the babies scream in horror as their mum bleeds to death. Its good manners to shoot them too so as to quickly put them out of their misery too.
2007-02-17 00:09:59 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 3⤋
no, if they are in thier senses
2007-02-17 01:32:19 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋