Introduction
The Koala eats eucalyptus leaves. It can eat up to one to two
pounds of these leaves. Here's another mysterious thing about the Koala; the
Koala dosen't drink water, because the eucalyptus leaves gives it enough
water. The Koala's shelter is the eucalyptus tree. The trees give them their
shelter from their leaves and branches. The Koala lives in the zoo;
therefore, the Koala wounld need the right amount of space, about a large
cage fit for an animal in the prairie. They would need the space, so they
could wonder around in the trees.
Koala
Koalas are found in South Eastern Australia and has been described as an "ash
coloured pouched bear". But they are not a bear they are a mammal (
meaning they feed their young on Milk) and are a Marsupial (meaning they
carry their developing young mostly in a pouch) The name koala, comes from
the Aboriginal saying that means "no drink". The Koala obtains
enough moisture from the eucalypt leaves that it lives on.
Activity
The Koala prefers to move around neither in daylight or night, but rather
just after sunset. Usually daytimes are spent asleep in the fork of a tree,
as 80% of its time is spent sleeping For a couple of hours after sunset it
will move around quiet a bit feeding and can often be heard "barking"
aggressively at other koalas. It does though at times feed at night and
during the day. Koalas are solitary animals having its own specific home
range
Description
"A picture paints a thousand words" Koalas are usually ash grey
with a white chest and the males are larger than females Thick fur, fluffy
ears and a broad flat nose give them their "cuddly" appearance
They have strong limbs and large hands to help with climbing trees.
Surprisingly they have a short stumpy tail which is of no assistance to them
in climbing at all.
Types of Koala
There are two species of Koalas found
1) South Koala
2) North Koala
Southern Koalas are larger up to 1/3 larger) than the northern variety
Journey of Young Koala
The baby Joey is born five weeks after conception, blind, hairless and less
than an inch long. It then crawls into its mothers pouch and drinks from one
of the 2 teats there The next 6 months the baby stays in the pouch drinking
milk The next period before being weaned at around the age of 1 their
dietary needs are supplemented by eating some of the mother's faeces
(droppings) that supplements the bacteria in its own caecum (part of the
intestine).
Living on the Edge
Like most wild animals destruction of habitat is a major threat Predators
such as feral dogs and dingoes are also a problem, as is traffic on our
nations highways Some "mainland" koala colonies have declined due
to a disease called chlamydiosis.
