Please Count Us In!

Today is The Great Koala Count in South Australia! It's just like a census -- but for koalas!

They tell me that koalas only live in Australia...but I have two koalas right here in Connecticut who definitely want to be counted!

You can actually download a smartphone app for the Great Koala Count! So if you spot a koala today and you have your phone, you can upload all kinds of info about the koala you saw right to the Koala Count! 

Here's the app for Android and iPhone. (Or you could just watch a great video about how the app works!)

Brewster (above left) -- who moved to the States just six weeks ago -- confessed to Bundy that he's worried some mates back home might look for him but not find him. "What if my friends want to count me today but I'm not there?"

Bundy considered this for a few moments. Then the wise Bundaleer explained that this is the whole purpose of the blog! So that koalas everywhere can keep in touch!

So Brewster's friends already know he's safe and having a good time here in the States... hanging out with new friends, eating leaves and, of course, snoozing! "What a relief!"

Fortunately, koalas don't need high-tech instruments to pick up koala-related communications. They have this great "beaming system" instead that transmits not only key data but occasionally the actual koalas themselves!

I hear they sometimes call that system "K2K"...

So clever, those little guys! Koalas! Four here and counting!

Heed the Call: "SAVE THE KOALAS" Large and Small!

Friends! Today is "Save the Australian Koala Day!" 

Yes, this day could not go unnoticed on the Bundaleer Blog! Please support koalas both near and far today!

You know, when blog readers first meet Bundaleer, 
I am often surprised to hear that they are surprised by
how small Bundy really is in person.

Well here is the little guy standing up straight and tall against a ruler:  Yup, he just barely clears 4 inches on a good hair day.

And since it is Save the Australian Koala Day, I agreed
to grant Bundy his most heartfelt wish today. Well, he thought about that offer all morning...

Finally he scrambled up to my left ear and whispered his wish: Could you maybe show my new mates on the blog? Just maybe a little introduction?

 

And like magic, that heartfelt wish came true! Here you 
can see Bundy's grey-haired friend Schopi from Germany! His real name is Schopenhauer but he prefers to be called Schopi. 

He looks inquisitive, right? Alert and intense? Yes, that, plus the plentiful ear hair, is perhaps why he was named after the German philosopher of the same name.
(You'll see what I mean if you follow the link!)  

Bundy must be getting older because now he has a female koala friend, too.

Nearly 7" tall and very elegant, KJ has recently come to visit Bundaleer from California! KJ is a lovely west coast addition to the Bundaleer's growing Circle of Koalas. She has a friendly and kind personality, and also is a very good listener. It must be those unique ears!

But don't underestimate KJ. She is adventurous! And smart! KJ likes dancing, swimming and computers -- and stays up much later than Bundy and Schopi!

But we don't want to forget about our other friend, the tiniest koala of all. Yup, his name is Tiny and he is just
ONE little inch tall.

Can you even see him?! Tiny is so tiny -- and filled with chocolate -- that Bundy and Schopi are usually scared to let him out of their sight! (You know, of course, that koalas don't think chocolate is tasty but other creatures do!)

Tiny likes their watchful protection because he is the only tiny koala left from a larger group of tiny yummy mates that visited us recently. But he's still cheerful, that Tiny!

Serving as the backdrop for today's introductions
is Bundaleer's favorite and quite revered book,
Koalas: Moving Portraits of Serenity by Joanne Ehrich. 

Last year, Bundy had to request this special and unusual book via Inter-Library Loan. This year, however, he has his own copy and he is thrilled!

OK! That's all from today's gang! Remember to do something good this weekend to "Save an Australian
Koala" today -- AND TOMORROW!

P.S. Not pictured in today's posting but also in Bundaleer's Circle of Koalas are:

Massachusetts-based Koalas: Yuki, Uki, Pooki (newbie!) and Yupa. Uh oh, there are more but sorry I need help remembering all their names!

And Ohio-based Koalas: Cheerio (another newbie and very tall, too!) and Clover, who is currently hanging out at the Koala Hospital awaiting repairs. (That's what can happen when koalas are loved soooooo much!)

PBS Now Showing: "Cracking the Koala Code"

Yes, it's really happening! 
Great koala-tainment on your local (American) PBS TV station! 

The show is called "Cracking the Koala Code" and premiers Wednesday, May 16 at 8pm. Watch the trailer:

Watch Cracking the Koala Code - Preview on PBS. See more from Nature.

Find out even more program details and koala facts on the
PBS Nature Website.

Bundy says:

    "Friends, please don't miss my show!"

BONUS QUESTION: What am I?    @(*o*)@    

  

ANSWER: Easy koal-e-moticon you can create on any keyboard!

Koalas Elevated Today to "Vulnerable" Species

Tony Burke, Australia's Environment Minister, announced today some important news affecting Australian wild koalas. 

For the first time ever, koalas will be listed as 'endangered' in two Australian states, namely Queensland and New South Wales, as well as the Australian Capital Territory (ACT).

This landmark legislation will give koalas -- and their essential eucalyptus forest habitat -- a somewhat higher level of protection against land developers in those states.

Still, koalas in the southern state of Victoria remain unprotected for reasons that, not surprisingly, are explained differently by different people.

For his part, Bundaleer wants to express today his sincere thanks to Tony Burke for better protecting a sizable percentage of wild koalas! 

Bundy says he will carry his homemade sign happily for as long as his little arms can manage.

     

Still, our favorite mini-marsupial has confessed to musing about staging an Occupy Gum Trees! event in Victoria.

In fact, Bundy's Victorian koala contacts beamed over a message today saying they could host a number of visitors up in the trees... that is, if the visitors didn't mind occupying themselves, and the forest, while the koalas got their 18 hours of sleep each day!

_____________________________

If you would like to read more about this legislation and how it may better protect koalas, Bundaleer recommends this interesting article published in the Guardian.

Thank you for your continued support of Bundaleer, and of koalas everywhere!

Koalas: You Never Know Where They'll Turn Up!

As Bundaleer helped pat dry the dishes today, a burning
question arose in his small but active marsupial mind.















He stared long and hard at the cast aluminum piece that
he had been using for years to make Eucalyptus Stew.
















Then he saw it . . . a familiar face. Oh my gosh!

Did the German who designed this classic Dutch oven
secretly have a "thing" for koalas?