“Gundaroo Bullock” is a term for koala, which settlers in southern New South Wales reputedly used for food in the late 19th century. The animal was often referred to as the native bear despite not being a bear or having any genetic links to bear species.

The earliest references to Gundaroo bullock in the press occur in the late 1890s, but it’s unclear when the term first emerged. In 1897, the Sydney Truth wrote:

Gundaroo is a salubrious district on the southern section of this colony. Its chief products are native bears and Scotchmen. The former may be easily captured by tree climbing and the latter is usually trapped with a pot of burgoo, set inside a running noose. The chief animal food of the inhabitants of Gundaroo is native bear, or as it is locally called ‘Gundaroo bullock.’

In 1898, under the heading of “Gundaroo Bullocks”, several newspapers reprinted an account of the capture of a koala, which first appeared in the Queanbeyan Observer. According to the article, the hunting party set out “armed with tomahawks, butcher’s knives, small bags of salt, &cl, &c.” When, after a three-day search, the unfortunate animal was eventually caught, it was “killed, butchered and divided amongst each family”, being the first meat they had had for a month.

The Yass Evening Tribune, local to the town of Gundaroo, in hoping for a better season in 1899, wrote that “We are tired of eating Gundaroo bullock, and brush wallaby, with a variation of fried porcupine and stewed tiger-cat.”

Later accounts point the finger at a pair of German settlers in the area. This story appeared in The World’s News in Sydney in 1953:

At Gundaroo, 20 miles from Queanbeyan (NSW) koalas still are referred to as Gundaroo bullocks. In the early days when gold was discovered in the district, koalas were there in their thousands, and as they were not protected, many were killed. Among the minders prospecting there were two Germans who were suspected of stealing local cattle and killing them for meat. The Germans had not found much gold, but they appeared to be living quite well, so police went out to investigate. In front of the Germans’ hut they noticed a large cask covered with a sack. The police lifted the sack, expecting to find it full of beef, but all they saw were a number of skinned koalas. The police passed on with the remark “Anybody who eats native bears must be very poor”. However, had they investigated further, they would have discovered that only the top layer consisted of koalas, the rest being prime beef.

The story of the cattle rustling and the Gundaroo Bullock was immortalised in a poem written by Andrew Barton”Banjo” Paterson, published in his 1917 book Saltbush Bill, J.P., and Other Verses. It’s not known exactly when the poem itself was written.

According to Paterson’s poem, the rustled beef came from the nearby town of Grabben Gullen. That town had its own legendary dish, although there seems to be some disagreement about what Grabben Gullen pie really was. Most books on the Australian language assert that it was a pumpkin, stuffed with possum meat and baked. However, one 1899 account in The Bulletin suggests the pumpkin was stuffed with potatoes.  And a 1910 story in The Sydney Morning Herald declares that the local specialty was a large goanna stuffed with small goannas.

With koalas, possums and goannas all protected species today, these pioneer foods have passed into history, along with parrot pie and cockatoo soup. No great loss, you’ll agree.