Mick the white koala

[ellen_datlow]

Yes, I too am a sucker for cuteness. Mick is not albino but has white fur and eyelids. He was discoverd by police in the Australian outback and was taken in for his own protection--from poachers:
Mick, the white koala

Comments

[maryrobinette.livejournal.com]

Are they as soft as they look?

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

Yes, although I could barely pet it as I had to have it seated in my arms.

[bluetyson.livejournal.com]

Yes, but note the serious claws.

They tend to be a bit grumpy.

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

Right. The one that Michael Swanwick, Marianne Porter, and I were allowed to hold seemed very calm though (druggged/full from eucalyptus?). We were allowed to hold it for a few minutes.. Its keeper had heavy gloves on. It hung on to me with those claws and I can imagine that if it was unhappy it could have done some real damage.

[king-espresso.livejournal.com]

Is it churlish to point out here that koalas aren't bears and that only people between Canada and Mexico call them koala bears?

But he is cute. :-)

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

Fixed on my end, but the video from Reuters calls him a "bear" ;-).

[mroctober.livejournal.com]

yeah, the eucalyptus has many toxins, I remember reading, and so the koala's brain is pretty messed up

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

Messed up but happy little buggers!

[(Anonymous)]

It's a fake. The hair is dyed.

Rick Bowes

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

meowwwww!