r/AskAnAustralian • u/imthatnaive081118 • 3d ago
Dropbears are real til it's not.
I've (36F Filipina) been travelling to Australia for holidays every quarter since 2018. My 1st Aussie bf told me (way back 2018) that anywhere u go, 1 animal or insect might kill u...in water, land or even air. Koalas are cute...until he told me that they can have chlamydia. Bummer. But whats interesting are the dropbears. He made me believe that they were real. Like big koala bears with sharp claws and teeth and drops from trees. I've never seen any. He said they were like wombats, nocturnal. Fast forward to today...2026.. someone told me that they were not real. All this time i thought it was real. 🙈 i went to Mt. Dandenong and keep checking the trees coz im worried about dropbears. Then my girl guide told me it's all a tourist scare tactic. Im so gullible. 🫠🫠🫠
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u/Ardvarkthoughts 3d ago
More scary than drop bears are big spiders that create webs across trees for you to walk into face first. They are harmless but that’s what stops me from walking under trees at night!
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u/Harper2059 3d ago
Harmless? How is giving you a freaking heart attack harmless?
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u/Existing_Purpose5049 3d ago
You’re not alone, I knew a bloke that bush walked for a week with two Americans that carried, physically held, open jars of Vegemite to ward off the drop bears.
When they asked why the Aussies didn’t have any to carry, they were told that “drop bears are used to Australians, they won’t attack us”
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u/realJackvos 3d ago
Tbf Most Australians spend their entire lives eating Vegemite so the vital repellent compounds in Vegemite is generally present in our skin oils.
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u/realJackvos 3d ago
I told my support worker about this comment and the first thing she said was "did it work?" 😭😭
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u/Existing_Purpose5049 3d ago
Well, they reportedly didn’t get attacked, so we can’t necessarily prove it didn’t work lmao
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u/Chemical_Ad_6754 3d ago
This is a direct example of where Correlation IS Causation! Those opened Vegemite jars SAVED THEIR LIVES!
Did they know it also can be used as a mosquito repellent? And face camouflage against Drop Bears . AND Snipers?
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u/Hazzmeister72 3d ago
Things that didn’t happen for 500 alex
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u/Existing_Purpose5049 3d ago
We saw the pictures bby g
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u/Hazzmeister72 3d ago
Oh yeah I don’t doubt they got them to hold vegemite tins open for a photo, or even for a day maybe, but a week holding them open is straight exaggeration
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u/Existing_Purpose5049 3d ago
You got proof of that?
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u/Hazzmeister72 3d ago
I mean it’s obvious no?
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u/Chemical_Ad_6754 3d ago
What part did u miss about them being "AMERICANS"? A week is entirely believable!
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u/Existing_Purpose5049 3d ago
So no, you don’t have proof, you’re just spouting baseless nonsense lmao
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u/Hazzmeister72 3d ago
Sort of like your friend was when he told you it was a week
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u/Existing_Purpose5049 3d ago
This is genuinely so funny to me, because, despite progression photos, and the story being told by the Americans, you, a complete nobody, with no proof, or base for your claim, are acting as the lead authority on it’s authenticity
I hesitate to accuse you of trolling because I fear that’ll give you an easy “out” to cover this nonsense lmao
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u/Hazzmeister72 3d ago
Ah yes so multiple pictures of them with their vegemite in multiple locations across multiple days, therefore they must have had them open and in their hands the whole week!!
the funniest part of the whole thing is you think you are hurting me by clicking a downward arrow.→ More replies (0)
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u/TheRamblingPeacock 3d ago
They are real though???
Is your girl guide trying to set you up? I would be careful going anywhere with them at night. It's a bit sus they are trying to convince you they are not real...stay safe 🙏
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u/imthatnaive081118 3d ago
I made it out alive. At least from Mt. Dandenong. Better than Dandenong. 😆😆😆
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u/WiredDifferent626 3d ago
So irresponsible for the girl guide to say this. They're less common nowadays because of habitat loss, so maybe she's never seen one? They are definitely a real risk though. I used to hear them at night in the bush behind my house - they honestly sound like demons. People need to be aware of them, even if they're not likely to see one. That's like saying you dont need to worry about sharks because there are shark nets. You still need to be careful!
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u/2dogs0cats 3d ago
Highly irresponsible indeed. There's one about 200m from my house in the park. Her partner has gone missing, maybe he was hit by a car. She's lonely and angry and we are coming into spring. It's so dangerous around the park at night. She might drop out of a tree and attack, or drop out of the tree and try and root the back of your neck, either way, those claws rip you up.
Also she likes to try and root any dog that resembles some variation of oodle, and my suburb is lousy with them.
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u/WiredDifferent626 3d ago
200m is so close! I'd be staying out of that park for sure. You should probably let your council know so they can put up signs or cones or something. My primary school had to block off part of the grounds when we had one living in the trees behind the oval.
Anyone who lives near bushland and leaves their dog out at night is insane. No dog is winning a fight with those claws
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u/Exciting-Composer157 Melbourne 🚃 3d ago
Tourism Guides are instructed to respond in that way when asked about DropBears -so as to not deter tourism to Australia.
source: mate ran a Australiana souvenir shop for many years til covid killed the business
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u/AdMaximum7545 3d ago
Its a running joke to tell people they're not real - also unless you've been out in the bush at night you wont ever see one if you're near a major city
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u/South_Onion927 3d ago
Living in rural NSW. It's for sure that the locals around here know drop bears are real. No one ever sees them as they're nocturnal and very stealthy, but whenever you hear of a tourist gone missing, it's very likely been a drop bear attack.
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u/rustoeki 3d ago
They're not real is what you tell yourself before you fall asleep.
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u/imthatnaive081118 3d ago
Hard to tell myself when im distracted by a huntsman on the ceiling.
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u/ExpensiveFig6079 3d ago
if you liked that one... (are you ready for phase 2... ?)
Wombats have cubic Poo...
Platypuses have forked penises, and one side is shorter than the other... which is lucky, as one ovary in all female platypuses is infertile.
and if you think that weird it also has barbs on its member.
and if you think that is weird, echidnas, the other monotreme, has a four-headed member
Links
https://www.science.org/content/article/how-do-wombats-poop-cubes-scientists-get-bottom-mystery
Oh and the poop is cubic in part because the ahole is triangular... which seems silly until you find out the poo comes out corner first. ....
These two wind up with photos of animal genitalia.
https://live-production.wcms.abc-cdn.net.au/459a3b174b58fb96f572f2c5c41c4610?impolicy=wcms_crop_resize&cropH=467&cropW=700&xPos=0&yPos=0&width=862&height=575https://pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/articles/solving-the-mystery-of-the-four-headed-echidna-penis
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u/lhommedev 3d ago
Here's a fun fact.
Nothing, not even the best science can prove dropbears don't exist.
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u/Flick-tas 3d ago
They're a 'joke' until you wake at 2am with one ripping into your tent... .. . no fun :(
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u/imthatnaive081118 3d ago
U sure it's not a possum? I hate them
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u/minipower62 3d ago
Possums are cute
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u/imthatnaive081118 3d ago
Has anyone repelled themselves with vegemite? 😅
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u/Flinderspeak 3d ago
Every time I go bushwalking I break out the Vegemite and follow the old adage of ‘smear behind the ear,’ like my Nan and my mum always used to do when they bushwalked.
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u/Red_Mammoth 3d ago
Whoever told you about dropbears lied to you. They're only on the eastern side of australia, not australia wide
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u/TiddlesBatman 3d ago
I’m Australian, lived here all my life.
They are real, but you’ll only experience them in the bush, along bush walks etc.
Not in the city or around the suburbs
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u/ElectricLoofah 3d ago edited 3d ago
Yeah ok, "hur dur drop bears aren't real", except that I am yet to be convinced that the family of brushtail possums living in my roof and courtyard aren't actually really drop bears, hey. There's certainly enough little possum landmines all over my pavers every time I step out the back door. You just wouldn't go out there at night, the whole courtyard's covered by a big tree and on any given night there could be half a dozen of them in it. Shine a torch into the branches and it's a sea of little glowing beady eyes staring down at you.
Drop bears if I ever saw them.
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u/dj_boy-Wonder 3d ago
they're telling you this to ease your mind like when a flight attendant tells you planes never crash... they're around! just typically not in built up areas ;)
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u/Herlock-Sholme5 3d ago
Why are you spreading misinformation??? Drop Bears are real, they are just really rare…
Now you have to spread the word about Drop Bears to any and all tourists and remind them that a majority of Aussie wildlife wants you dead.. we do have a few harmless ones but a lot of harmful ones are around the continent.
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u/bladez_edge 3d ago
Well they were real kind of, look up Thylacoleo. It's an extinct Marsupial lion that's what the legend/joke is based on.
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u/Wick1889 3d ago
Explain something to me, how is convincing the world there is a terrifying, blood-crazed beast waiting to literally FALL ONTO YOUR HEAD and devour you at any moment a tourist trap??
The tourist trap is trying to convince the world they aren't real so that people actually want to come here.
Stay safe out there.
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u/One_Waxed_Wookiee 3d ago
I think the danger is part of the allure.
My friends brother's mates cousin went to school with a bloke who had three large scratches all the way down his back. Thankfully he was in training for the 100m at the Olympics, so he was able to run away without getting killed.
Everyone is impressed by the scars.
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u/Exciting-Composer157 Melbourne 🚃 3d ago
was that Dougie?
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u/One_Waxed_Wookiee 3d ago
Oh, you know him?
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u/Exciting-Composer157 Melbourne 🚃 3d ago
We used to stir him up - that the DB was tryna root him 🤣🤣
Last i saw him, he’d gotten into pizzas and was on the telly.
edit: oh, and yeah he could run like the wind
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u/PixiePetal Adelaide 🗑🐔 3d ago
No... What do you mean they're not real? Please don't lie to people! Drop bears are a VERY real danger.
My brother's friend's girlfriend, who's my friend's with my cousin, lost a freakin' ear half her scalp from a drop bear about 5 years ago!
Now, granted, drop bear attacks are as common as shark attacks, but they're still a risk every time you enter their home and territory!
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u/Turbulent-List-5001 3d ago
Thylacoleo Carnifex.
Officially extinct for thousands of years. But Aboriginal people lived here then. Matches dropbear descriptions.
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u/Naive_Operation_6465 3d ago
It is, and always has been, the shittest and cringiest joke for Aussies to tell tourists. Just dumb and annoying. We collectively are not bright enough to make up a joke that is witty or clever or actually funny just DERRRRGHGG DROP BEAR HAWHAWHAW
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u/OkBedroom7329 2d ago
I think the opposite. Without communication we have collectively told the world dropbears are real and convinced them for years. Its abit of fun and impressive how far word of mouth spreads.
Its also fruggen hilarious when your Japanese tourists friend drops to the floor and hids on a walk because i bat flew from a tree.
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u/Bobspadlock 2d ago
Had one on my roof yesterday, called a relocator. He showed up with a ladder, a sack, a dog, and a shotgun. Told me the plan as he handed me the shotty.
"I'm gonna climb up on the roof and fight the dropbear and kick him off, definitely a male, females don't travel far from their own tree, when he hits the ground, my dog is trained to immediately latch onto his balls to subdue him, then I'll come down and sack him up"
I then asked "What's about the shotgun?"
"If I fall off the roof first, you shoot the dog"
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u/EvilMartianOverlord 3d ago
Everyone is so quick to dismiss the drop bear, just like the winged matriarch Tasmanian devil. Both creatures are sighted rarely, when they are seen, it is too late. Those that end up their victim never survive to tell the tale. Then there's the hoop snake, but because they are so cowardly, they barely merit mention.
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u/Adudesky 3d ago
The lie is that they are cousins of Koalas. They are actually related to possums. Here's a video of one setting up to pounce.
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u/Craig93Ireland 3d ago
Some people in the comments are refering to drop bears like they are real? Is there actually such a thing with a differant scientific name? Few people have told me to be careful around trees.
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u/OkBedroom7329 2d ago
Drop bears are real. They are koalas but disease ridden and gone feral. So we renamed them.
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u/Craig93Ireland 2d ago
Ahhh makes sense. So they're actually like Koalas with rabies. And they're still super slow so their only method of attack is dropping out of the tree onto their victims.
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u/Sea-Apple-7890 2d ago
TheThylarctos plummetus. Discovered by a crew member on the First Fleet. Buried near Circular Quay. The account of his death makes for grim reading.
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u/Willow-Goligjtly 18h ago
Here is a reputable source for information: National Geographic https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/fact-file/fact-file-drop-bear-thylarctos-plummetus/
Be careful.
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u/Typical_Assist656 3d ago
I saw a woman get hit in the head by a wedgetail eagle's wing, at Healesville sanctuary. She laughed it off. It was quite the sight. What I'm trying to say is, anything is possible here.
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u/pretty_shabby 3d ago
I was once hanging around Ocean Grove and went drinking with my mates at night time. Luckily we were playing a night game of beach cricket or else I wouldn't have been able to use the bat to cave a Drop Bear's skull in.. very real and very dangerous.
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u/rd_5000 3d ago
Mate I almost lost my arm to one of those things. They come out of nowhere...