Drop bears: The untold story of an imaginary Australian creature

Ask any Aussie about drop bears, and they’re likely to share a wild tale of an encounter with this predatory, fang-bearing relative of the koala.

They may recount how a family member was seriously hurt in a drop bear attack or tell you about a friend who barely survived an encounter with this fearsome predator.

But here's the truth: They're all fabricating it. Drop bears are purely fictional.

Across the world, every culture has its own mythical creature that's said to exist yet never seen – from dragons to yetis, and even the Loch Ness Monster.

But with the drop bear, there's a twist. No Aussie truly believes in it – it's a playful scare tactic used mainly on unsuspecting foreigners.

Here's how the prank goes: A tourist is about to venture into the bush, and an Aussie casually warns them to 'look out for the drop bears.' When asked what that is, they’ll be told it's a terrifying, clawed creature that ambushes from above.

'You get them staring up at the trees, all nervous,' said Ian Coate, author and founder of Mythic Australia. 'The reaction is priceless – it’s a perfect example of that classic Aussie humor.'

But some Aussies have taken the drop bear hoax even further. The Museum of Australia even has a bogus information page on its site, 'warning' visitors about the dangers of this imaginary creature.

'Once the prey is in sight, the Drop Bear will drop from as high as eight meters to land on its unsuspecting victim. The impact usually stuns the prey, allowing it to quickly bite the neck and overpower it,' the site claims.

Even Australian celebrities have joined in on the fun. When Dinogo Travel asked Australian actor Chris Hemsworth for tips on avoiding drop bears in 2018, his advice was simple: 'Carry an umbrella.'

The origins of the drop bear myth

Although the drop bear is well-known and increasingly recognized worldwide, its true origins remain a mystery.

The drop bear legend doesn't seem to have been inspired by any specific popular book or film. According to the National Library of Australia, the first mention of a drop bear in an Australian newspaper appears in 1982 in a harmless listing in 'The Canberra Times,' the capital city's local paper.

'TAM – Beware of drop bears in the future, for sure, totally love Clint,' reads a message in the '21st Birthdays' column. It's unclear who TAM or Clint were.

Some trace the drop bear legend to a sketch by iconic Australian comedian and actor Paul Hogan (famously known abroad as Crocodile Dundee) on his show 'The Paul Hogan Show,' which aired in the 1970s and 80s.

In one skit, Hogan plays a parody of Indiana Jones named 'Cootamundra Hoges,' who explores the mythical 'Valley of Goannas' only to be ambushed by ferocious koalas.

The koalas leap from the trees and start attacking Hogan, who collapses under their weight, helpless and covered in the creatures.

However, Coate from Mythic Australia recalls his scout leader sharing stories of drop bears in the early 1970s, long before Hogan’s skits aired.

'When we were camping, the drop bear tale was often used to keep us from wandering too far from camp,' he explained, adding that he was warned, 'If you go into the bush, the drop bears will get you.'

It appears that while the drop bear has evolved into a myth used to frighten tourists, it likely started as a ghost story designed to spook Australian children. Not all Aussies grew up hearing about drop bears, but those who did recall their parents, particularly in rural or farming areas, sharing these tales.

In this image, which is definitely photoshopped, a drop bear launches an attack on a family.

Coate noted that some of the first individuals to be startled by the drop bear might not have been tourists, but rather early visitors to Australia.

During Coate's time in the army in the late 1980s, as part of the survey corps, he recalled that visiting soldiers from the UK and US would sometimes join training exercises in the Australian bush. When they did, they’d often ask how to avoid Australia's infamous snakes and spiders.

'The Aussies would reply, Forget the snakes and spiders, it’s the drop bears you need to watch out for,' Coate recalled. He remembered telling the visiting soldiers that the best way to avoid drop bears was to cover their faces with the iconic Australian spread, Vegemite.

'Our Aussie soldiers would chuck a jar of Vegemite to the visiting troops, and it would take them a few days to figure out that smearing it on their faces wasn’t doing a thing,' he said with a laugh.

The Drop Bears

However, there is one clear moment when the legendary drop bears began to weave their way into Australian pop culture.

In 1981, bassist Chris Toms and his New Zealand friend Johnny Batchelor formed a band in Sydney with a post-punk, melodic pop sound. After some thought, they chose the name 'The Drop Bears.'

Batchelor admitted that before moving to Australia from New Zealand, he had never heard of the mythical drop bear. However, he recalled Toms, who grew up in rural New South Wales, describing it as an Australian ghost story.

'(He said) it was a tale people told to scare others, especially kids. You’d warn them to be careful, or the drop bears would pounce on you,' Batchelor explained.

They settled on the name, but Batchelor soon grew weary of it. When they toured radio stations across Australia to promote their music, the first question they’d always get was the same – 'What exactly is a drop bear?'

As the Drop Bears pursued greater mainstream success, Batchelor described the name as becoming an 'albatross around our necks.'

'It felt like a weight, like that wasn’t the image we wanted to project,' he said.

Batchelor believes the appeal of the drop bear legend is not only linked to Australia's unique sense of humor but also to the national pride in their dangerous wildlife.

Even without the drop bear myth, Australia is renowned for its deadly creatures, including a vast range of sharks, venomous snakes, and two of the world’s most poisonous spiders.

'Australians love to impress foreigners with their lethal wildlife,' he said. 'It’s less about scaring kids now, and more about warning the travelers.'

The rise of the drop bear myth

Had The Drop Bears been formed just 20 years later, they might not have needed to explain their band name so frequently. In today’s internet age, the drop bear legend has gained significant popularity.

In January 2020, Google Trends reported that searches for 'drop bear' surpassed both the Loch Ness Monster and the American jackalope in terms of interest in fictional creatures.

The myth has been bolstered by its frequent appearances in Australian media and pop culture. In 2004, Bundaberg Rum aired an ad where a group of Australians tries to warn some German backpackers about the deadly drop bear.

In 2013, Australian Geographic, a leading nature magazine, published an April Fool's Day article titled 'Drop bears target tourists, study reveals.'

A drop bear — just to clarify, they are photoshopped and not real — is pictured getting ready to ambush Mythic Australia's Ian Coate.

As recently as January 2020, a UK journalist from ITV went viral after being pranked by an Australian wildlife park. She was suited up in heavy protective gear before being handed a 'drop bear' to hold. (It turned out to be just a koala.)

It wasn’t until the visibly nervous journalist passed the koala back that it became clear it was merely a regular animal and not a dangerous predator.

Now even mainstream travel sites mention the drop bear joke, and Australia’s national prank is spreading faster than ever. However, despite not enjoying his strong association with the mythical predator, co-founder of the Drop Bears, Batchelor, suggested that the myth might be losing its punch as it becomes more widely known.

“Maybe it reduces the impact,” Batchelor reflected. “You see so much online that it all starts to feel dull. But when someone shares a thrilling story about a terrifying creature, it feels more real,” he added.

In a surprising twist, some recent theories suggest that there may have once been a deadly predator in Australia that dropped from trees to hunt its prey.

Archaeological findings point to the prehistoric marsupial lion, known as thylacoleo carnifex, which roamed and hunted in Australia thousands of years ago and might have been capable of climbing and leaping from trees. Some believe this creature could be the true inspiration for the drop bear myth.

Ian Coates from Mythic Australia now writes children's books about drop bears, aiming to foster pride in Australian folklore. He explained that the purpose of the drop bear legend is not merely to frighten, but to bring people together.

“It’s just a fun way to build connections; it’s about two people sharing a laugh… It’s the Aussie way of bonding over a joke and making light of things,” he said.