This Issue: The Power of a Cuscus On Our Magazine's Cover - Brief Article

International Wildlife, Jan-Feb, 2000

The fuzzy marsupial on our front cover-an animal called the bear cuscus-is our way to call attention to the first story in our issue: an appreciation of the fig. As researcher Margaret Kinnaird reports (page 12), figs drive the behaviors of numerous animals in the forests of Sulawesi.

But our cover model is more than a symbol. At Kinnaird's research station, the cuscus was something of a star in her own right. As a pet (she had been orphaned by a poacher), she ruled the place, climbing around on a jungle gym of branches built just for her. The scientist named her Kuse (pronounced Koo-say), Sanghirese for cuscus.

Life was anything but dull with little Kuse around. "Her favorite trick," the researcher relates, "was to climb up your legs (meanwhile digging into your skin with her sharp claws or unintentionally pulling down your pants-rather embarrassing at times), head for your shoulders, then wrap her cool, hairless tail around your neck and dangle down onto your chest."

We like Kuse on our cover because she typifies the less-serious side of wildlife stories in a world where the news about animals is not always good. She's also the right fit for this issue because of the positive articles it includes: Scientists are returning Europe's largest bird to the Alps (page 22). Naturalists in Cuba are scoring remarkable successes, even though they have virtually no money or equipment (page 36). Musk-oxen on Banks Island in Canada have experienced a mysterious population explosion (page 28).

As for Kuse, there is one downside. Although the scientist taught her to defecate in the station's bathroom, Kuse's favorite place to urinate, Kinnaird reports, was on top of the magazine rack-including old issues of, well, International Wildlife. The Editors