Koalas
Published on Nov 23, 2015
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The koala is native to Australia, and is a fairly small marsupial. The koala gets it's name from an old Aboriginal word meaning "no drink", because it gets over 90% of it's hydration and fluids from the leaves they eat. A koala drinks only when they're sick, there's not enough moisture on the leaves, or if there's a drought, etc.
Photo by pelican
Koalas live in a range of different habitats, such as coast islands, woodlands and eucalyptus forests.
Photo by MrSnooks
Koalas are like humans, and need to have company or be near other koalas, so they all find forests where it is suitable for a fairly big population of koalas to live. Koalas today are found all over Australia.
Photo by Frank Jaquier
In Australia, there are over 600 types of eucalyptus, but koalas only eat around 40-50 varieties. Different species of eucalypt grow in different parts of Australia, so koalas in Queensland would have a very different diet compared to koalas in Victoria.
Photo by Amanda Penrose
Sometimes koalas will eat from wattle or tea trees, if gum leaves are all dried out. Eucalyptus leaves are very fibrous and low in nutrition, and koalas sleep up to 18 hours a day. Each koala eats around 200-500 grams of leaves everyday.
Photo by uccsbiology
Koalas teeth are sharp at the front, so they can cut and shear the leaves instead of crushing them. Eucalyptus leaves are poisonous to most animals.
Photo by abbyladybug
The koala can walk, but it looks very awkward and lop sided. It can also run, and swim a touch but they hardly ever need to.
Photo by skyseeker
The koala has a great sense of balance, and it's body is lean and muscular, and quite long. It's arms and legs are basically the same in length, and the koalas climbing strength comes from the thigh muscle joining the shin.
Photo by Justin in SD
The koalas paws are especially made for gripping and climbing, with rough pads on the palms souls, helping it go grip onto tree trunks and branches. They have long sharp claws to help them climb.
Photo by moose477
Koalas paws are also made so they can grip onto trees easily when asleep, so they don't fall out go the tree!
Photo by M Kuhn
Koalas life span today is around 13 to 18 years. Most koalas die due to stress, pain, injuries or old ageing.
Photo by soundog
Koalas have thick woolly fur that protects them from high and low temperatures. It also acts like a raincoat when it rains, protecting the fur from too much moisture. Their fur is is normally grey, or brown with a little white and sometimes black.
Photo by _TC Photography_
Koalas use different sounds to communicate with each other. Males make a deep grunting bellow to let others know his position. Females know only really make noises if they have a baby to communicate with them, so they make soft clicking squeaking sound and gentle humming noises to one another as well as gentle grunts to the baby, showing annoyance.
Photo by darren.willman
The koala is a marsupial, which means they have a pouch. When a baby is born, the mother carries the baby around in the
pouch, raising it well.
Photo by Pandora's Perspective
