Koala
Phascolarctos cinereus Goldfuss, 1817
Phascolarctidae
(Alecto Edition Plate 3)

BAU05

$750.00

5. Koala. Phascolarctos cinereus (Goldfuss, 1817) [W,P&M]
330 x 506 mm
Bauer made this painting of two koalas, an adult and a pup, captured by unknown persons at Hat
Hill in New South Wales sometime between June and September 1803. This, and the following
paintings of koalas, demonstrate Bauer’s exquisite attention to detail and feeling for the animal’s
natural habits. Robert Brown made extensive manuscript notes about this then unfamiliar animal.
It was about the same time that the first published account of the koala appeared in the Sydney
Gazette for 21 August 1803 stating that an adult and two pups had been presented to Governor
Phillip King.
Today, the koala has a wide but fragmented distribution in eastern Australian eucalyptus forests.
In recent years the koala population has declined.
S&P : 26; W&M : 315, 333; W,P&M : 134-5, 138-9