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".In 1997 e.g. about 75 percent of European and Japanese visitors to Australia placed the koala at the top of their list of animals to see. Factors that contribute to the koala's popularity in nowadays include its childlike body proportions and teddy bear-like face, even if early European settlers in Australia considered the koala to be a prowling sloth-like animal with a "fierce and menacing look".
Read more »