Editing Koala (section)

===Cultural significance ===
{{main|Koala emblems and popular culture}}
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| image1            = Koala_souvenirs.JPG
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| alt1              = Koala souvenir soft toys
| caption1          = Koala souvenir soft toys are popular with tourists.
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| alt2              = Amy and Oliver the bronze koalas (by artist Glenys Lindsay)
| caption2          = Amy and Oliver the bronze koalas (by Glenys Lindsay)
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The koala is known worldwide and is a major draw for Australian zoos and wildlife parks. It has been featured in popular culture and as soft toys.<ref name="jackson" />{{rp|ix}} It benefited the Australian tourism industry by over $1''&nbsp;''billion in 1998, and subsequently grown.<ref name="moyal" />{{rp|201}} Its international popularly rose after World War II, when tourism increased and the animals were exported to zoos overseas.<ref name="jackson" />{{rp|156}} In 1997, about 75% of European and Japanese tourists placed the koala at the top of their list of animals to see.<ref name="moyal" />{{rp|216}} According to biologist Stephen Jackson: "If you were to take a straw poll of the animal most closely associated with Australia, it's a fair bet that the koala would come out marginally in front of the kangaroo".<ref name="jackson" />{{rp|ix}} Factors that contribute to the koala's enduring popularity include its teddy bear-like appearance with childlike body proportions.<ref name="Martin-Handasyde" />{{rp|3}}

The koala features in the [[Dreamtime]] stories and [[Australian Aboriginal mythology|mythology]] of Indigenous Australians. The [[Tharawal people]] believed that the animal helped them get to Australia by rowing the boat.<ref name=jackson/>{{rp|21}} Another myth tells of a tribe that killed a koala and used its long intestines to create a bridge for people from other parts of the world.<ref name="Martin-Handasyde"/>{{rp|17}} How the koala lost its tail is the subject of many tales. In one, a kangaroo cuts it off to punish the koala for uncouth behaviour.<ref name=jackson/>{{rp|28}} Tribes in Queensland and Victoria regarded the koala as a wise animal that gave valuable guidance. [[Bidjara language|Bidjara]]-speaking people credited the koala for making trees grow in their arid lands.<ref name=jackson/>{{rp|41–43}} The animal is depicted in rock carvings, though less so than some other species.<ref name=jackson/>{{rp|45–46}}

Early European settlers in Australia considered the koala to be a creeping [[sloth]]-like animal with a "fierce and menacing look".<ref name=jackson/>{{rp|143}} At the turn of the 20th century, the koala's reputation took a positive turn. It appears in [[Ethel Pedley]]'s 1899 book ''[[Dot and the Kangaroo]]'', as the "funny native bear".<ref name=jackson/>{{rp|144}} Artist [[Norman Lindsay]] depicted a more [[anthropomorphic]] koala in ''[[The Bulletin (Australian periodical)|The Bulletin]]'' cartoons, starting in 1904. This character also appeared as Bunyip Bluegum in Lindsay's 1918 book ''[[The Magic Pudding]]''.<ref name=jackson/>{{rp|147}} The most well known fictional koala is [[Blinky Bill]]. Created by [[Dorothy Wall]] in 1933, the character appeared in books, films, TV series, merchandise, and a 1986 environmental song by [[John Williamson (singer)|John Williamson]].<ref name=jackson/>{{rp|149–52}} The koala first appeared on an [[Postage stamps and postal history of Australia|Australian stamp]] in 1930.<ref name=moyal/>{{rp|164}} 
[[File:President Obama holding a koala 3.jpg|thumb|right|upright|US President [[Barack Obama]] with a koala in [[Brisbane]], Australia]]
The song "Ode to a Koala Bear" appears on the B-side of the 1983 [[Paul McCartney]]/[[Michael Jackson]] duet single "[[Say Say Say]]".<ref name=jackson/>{{rp|151}} A koala is the main character in animated cartoons in the early 1980s: [[Hanna-Barbera]]'s ''[[The Kwicky Koala Show]]'' and [[Nippon Animation]]'s ''[[Noozles]]''. Food products shaped like the koala include the [[Caramello Koala]] chocolate bar and the bite-sized cookie snack [[Koala's March]]. [[Dadswells Bridge]] in Victoria features a tourist complex shaped like a giant koala<ref name=jackson/>{{rp|155–58}} and the [[Queensland Reds]] rugby team has a koala as its icon.<ref name=jackson/>{{rp|160}}