Species: Drop Bear

**Drop bears** are the twenty-fourth species of animal available in the Sky Zoo. Drop bears are eating and vaulting animals. There are 9 different types of drop bear that can be befriended. They are available from Outback 1.

## Behaviour

* **Wild:** Drop bears sit and wait on top of trees and jump down on the player when they near, smashing everything in a nearby radius. They can possibly cause the player to crash into them, but they can't smash the animal that the player is riding.
* **When ridden:** Drop bears run and leap up very high when contact is made with an obstacle, locking onto a wild animal and plummeting down to devour the wild animal, smashing everything in a nearby radius. When on the ground, drop bears are unable to eat animals.
* **When angry:** Drop bears slow down, grab the player and eat them, falling asleep on the spot.
* **In habitat:** Drop bears walk and stand around. They will jump up and smash the ground every now and then.
	+ **Selected in habitat:** Drop bears stand straighter and rub their paws together while shaking their heads.

## Tips

Drop bears are tough to tame due to being stationary; it means that the player has less time to react to a 'new' drop bear, and the drop bear will not run and catch up meaning that using a revive or a continue and waiting for a drop bear will not work. It is hence recommended to use a slower animal with good control such as a sheep and stay towards the right to get a good view of the map. The player could also use a sidekick that slows down riding speed. When jumping for a drop bear, either jump very early before the drop bear jumps to tame it straight from the tree, or jump in the predicted path of the drop bear's landing. Drop bears are very useful in that a single one can carry the player around 1500m, and provide invincibility against obstacles, which on narrow sections in Outback are possibly the most difficult sections in the game.

## Habitat Upgrades

* **Level 1** - Drop bears in the wild are less aggressive
* **Level 2** - Eating animals keeps drop bears happy for longer
* **Level 3** - Longer air time after vaulting on drop bears
* **Level 4** - Gain 50% more ticket money from drop bears
* **Level 5** - Bigger lasso from mid air jumps
* **Level 6** - Drop bears you're riding gain a bigger jump-attack radius
* **Level 7** - Bonus coins for eating other animals on drop bears
* **Level 8** - 2x more rare drop bears in the stampede
* **Level 9** - Add a new rare Drop Bear to the stampede (The Hon. Lady Dropbear)

## Trivia

* The drop bear is a mythical creature rumoured to jump off trees and consume people and animals travelling through the Outback. When European settlers observed koalas, they believed that they were the 'drop bears' that had been the cause behind disappearances in the Outback. Koalas **do not** behave in the way that drop bears do in-game in real life, rather, they are mostly sedentary and usually spend 18-22 hours sleeping per day.
	+ The true reason behind the majority of disappearances was the harsh, dry, desert climate and the difficulty of navigation, with many travellers being lost in the middle of the Outback.

## Notes

* Drop bears were released in version 1.3.0 on the 13th of October 2016 along with Outback and all other Outback species.
* If the drop bear habitat is upgraded to level 7, the player may notice that even wild drop bears will give them money. They will give the player coins when it smashes objects.
	+ Wild drop bears are also able to trigger the spawning of a Spying Fox when they smash an outhouse or a windmill.
* They are the only mythical Sky Zoo animal.

## References

1. ↑ https://www.savethekoala.com/about-koalas/frequently-asked-questions