This is Miss Sophie’s class. It is nearly home time. Miss Sophie tells the children that tomorrow she will

be telling them all about pouchy-bears. Pouchy-bears?

This is Tim.His job is to go to school. But Tim is a real whiz-kid and likes to go on adventures where he can make cool discoveries.

And because Tim was recently in Australia, he knows exactly what a pouchy-bear is. He once shook one‘s paw … mmm claw. High up in a tree.

Australia is a big, sunny island in the Pacific. And because Tim spends a lot of time in the sun on his adventures, he always wears suncream.

On his quest for the pouchy-bear, Tim ventured into the wild outback. He was shown the way by wombats,

a kangaroo and a little native Australian boy: „Turn right after 111 miles at the eucalyptus tree

where the fruit bat hangs.“

Tim finally arrived at his destination! The pouchy-bear is ... a koala bear! But it‘s also

a marsupial, like kangaroos and wombats. The koala mummy carries her baby in her

pouch. When they get older, they climb onto their mummy‘s back.

„The koala bear,“ explains Tim, „is actually not really a bear at all. But I‘ve been told that the first teddy bears were based on it because of its funny beady eyes and its cute nose. And my teddy is definitely a real bear.“

© 2011 – Spirig Pharma AG, CH-4622 Egerkingen Text: Lahor Jakrlin, illustration: Roberto Pena

Tim‘s next adventure:

Tim‘s Canoe Trip