Twenty named drop bears - Bruce “The Unit”, Grandma Judy, The Ghost of ‘74 and 17 more – will race down the Murrumbidgee at Narrandera four times on Saturday 19 September from 2pm, streamed live to the world.

The Drop Bear Dash is a Rotary Club of Narrandera charity raffle: locals back a bear from $5, every top-three finish triggers a live prize draw, and proceeds support Narrandera’s real koalas – the riverbank colony of about 290, counted by hand every September since 1979 and descended from just 23 released in the early 1970s.

A NSW parliamentary inquiry has warned koalas could be extinct in the state by 2050. Narrandera’s colony is one of the very few going the other way.

Race day: Saturday 19 September - races at 2pm, 2.15pm, 2.30pm and 2.45pm - Murrumbidgee River, Narrandera. Free to attend, streamed live at dropbear.narranderarotary.club.

A charity raffle is being conducted by the Rotary Club of Narrandera under the NSW Community Gaming Act 2018. 18+ to enter.

Proceeds support koala preservation in Narrandera.