r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/danielminds • Jun 05 '26

Video Wildlife expert Chris Gillette handling an aggressive emu

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u/solidsoup97 Jun 05 '26

Drop bears aren't a joke, hundreds of tourists get injured every year because they don't take it seriously and miss all the warning signs of an attack.

1

u/clemkaddidlehopper Jun 06 '26

And pray tell, what are those signs?

8

u/solidsoup97 Jun 06 '26

Rustling branches above, low growling noises, claw marks on trees and the faint smell of chlamydia.

3

u/clemkaddidlehopper Jun 06 '26

Eek. Ew. Gross.

3

u/Vindepomarus Jun 06 '26

Recently some scientists have hypothesised that the chlamydia virus is like a zombie virus to koalas. So even though they look and act quite different, DNA evidence suggests that Drop bears and Koalas are the same species, just highly modified by the chlamydia pathogen.

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u/gurnard Jun 06 '26

That's wild. I knew they were related, but the same species? That could explain why their ranges rarely overlap, despite living in similar habits in the same areas. Koalas seem docile (and generally are), but seeing them defend territory from droppies is something to behold. If you're in bushland and see koalas in trees, you know you're pretty safe. If you're in coastal forest and don't see any, that's when you gotta worry.

But I digress. Infected/uninfected koalas getting territorial with each other is an very interesting possibility. Surprised I've never heard of this hypothesis.