Vulnerable Koalas
They are cuddly, they are cute. They are iconic Australian. Yes, you are right, it is the Koala.
Despite being one of the world’s most adored animals, they are now officially in peril. In a rapidly changing, human-oriented world, koalas are the latest victim to man’s quest for lumber, minerals and urbanization. An iconic Australian national symbol, the sharp decline in the population of these tree-dwellers, has prompted the Australian Government to list koala as 'vulnerable'.
Bears they are not!
Did you know that Koalas are not bears? That’s right. Though often called koala “bear”, this cuddly animal is actually a marsupial - or pouched mammal and has in fact no relation whatsoever to the bear family. Unlike bears that eat meat, koalas live entirely on a diet of eucalyptus leaves.
Like other mammals, marsupials give birth to babies except that they are not fully developed before they are born. Marsupial babies – also known as joeys are born in an immature state and need to be nursed in their mother’s pouch for at least six months before they become fully developed. When the babies gets a little bigger, they ride on their mother’s back or cling to her belly to accompany her everywhere until they are about a year old.
Koalas are nocturnal - active at night and arboreal – living on trees. During the day they doze, tucked into forks or nooks in the trees, sleeping for up to 18 hours. They use their sharp claws to stay aloft.
The Eucalyptus nexus
Koalas are native of eastern Australia. They can be found where the eucalyptus trees are most plentiful. When not asleep, koalas constantly devour eucalyptus leaves. Amazingly these creatures hardly drink any water unless there are drought conditions or heat waves. They get most of the moisture they need from the eucalyptus leaves. Infact the name 'koala' is thought to have come from an Aboriginal word, kwala - meaning 'no drink'. They eat a lot. Each animal eats about two and a half pounds of leaves a day, quite a quantity for their size, wouldn’t you say? As if they can’t have enough of it, they can even tuck in a snack of leaves in pouches in their cheeks!
Eucalyptus trees are critical to the very survival of the koalas. Habitat destruction is the biggest threat to the koalas. Forests are disappearing fast in response to development in Australia. However the historic decision by the Federal Government to list the koala as vulnerable under the country’s national threatened species legislation should mean that the Australian government can impose conditions on plans for future mines, housing developments and timber operation to prevent habitat disturbance in koala areas.
Courtesy: National Geographic
Save The Koalas!!!
koalas are awesome. we need to help them. this is devastating! save the koalas!
Help Save the koalas!
so sad
how do kolas eat so much and they are still so small
THey are sooooo cute!! I don't want anything to ever happen to this species
One time I read that they move so slowly and little because the eucalyptus leaves that they eat have so few calories.
koalas are so cute why do so meany people whant to hurt them
I forgot that they were marsupials.
From hollier:
Hi Guys
Why are they nearly extinct they are to cute and cuddly thats why we need to help the koalas.
Hollie.R
P.S HELP THE KOALAS!!
[Editor: Hollie, sorry your comment was accidentally deleted by us.]
How do they eat so much but way so little. I hope we can save the koalas
Koalas are so cute! i never knew all that about them!
Hopefully there will be a way to save the koalas.
Koalas are awesome and one of my favorite animals.
How do they eat 2 1/2 pounds of leaves, they only weigh 5 lbs.
Koalas are my favorite animals ever. They are awesome.
Koalas are such fascinating creatures. I dont know why people would hurt koalas habitat. What did koalas do to the people. They are not harmful. It is crazy how koalas eat 2 and 1/2 pound of leaves a day.
Why are they killing poor little koalas
We need to all pitch in to keep the koala's habitat safe, if there is a missing link in the food chain the area could be pretty messed up for a while.
I never really realized that koalas were bears because they're so small compared to grizzly bears.
koalas are one of my favorite animals so i thought this was reallly neat to read about!!!!!!! They are sooooo cute and even looking at that picture of how they grow and change as they age is pretty neat. i think it is cool to learn about them!!!!!!!
I don't think it is right that humans are cutting down the forests thus destroying the koalas entire habitat. The koalas are adorable and if they go extinct then so will forests growing through Austrailia.
It is devestating that koala bears are dying because we need wood!
ahhh koalas!!!
Koalas are cute marsupials.
Koalas have always been one of my favorite animal.They are not just adorable, but they are so much fun to learn about. I never knew that the whole diet was on eucalyptus leaves.Koalas and kangroo's are the cutest animals ever!
I didn't know that koalas are not bears! I learned they are marsupials. And they have to fight for their lives? That is soo sad! I gives us another reason to cut down on cutting down trees.
Who knew that koalas were not related to bears but actually kangaroos are endangered. I used to think koalas are lazy but they have a big part in the ecosystem. Hopefully there is a way to help these animals.
I like this article a lot even though I learned all of this from my sister (she did a project on them) and from a video of the Jeff Corwin Experience. Still I liked the article for I am a very big animal lover and I liked that I got to read about koalas in different wording. I also liked the visual things like the chart or the video. I want to help save koalas.
I never knew that Koalas are not bears because when ever I see one I'd say "look a koala bear" but no one corrected me so I thought that that was correct. I do love those non-bears they are indeed so cute! I wonder why they are not bears?
These anamails are so cute and i love<3them so much.they are going extinct because people are cutting down trees.This is a another reason why we should recycle.
Wow! I didnt know that koalas arent bears. I thought they were bears because of their name (koala bears.)
stop cutting trees without the koalas a habitat might fall
I honestly never knew that Koala Bears had pouches in their cheeks to store extra food! I hope they never go extinct!!
Why would any one what to destroy the koalas home they are so cute and they are harmless so there would be no reason to destroy their home.
I don't want the koalas to live in the zoo, because it might to be small. I want the koala to live free. I wish I can speak to them.
i <3 koalas
I never knew all these things about the koala bears; they are such interesting animals-or should I say: marsupials! I never knew that they were nocturnal and that their sharp claws helped them stay up in the tree. Another cool fact I learned was that a koala bear eats two and a half pounds of eucalyptus leaves each day! I hope that some organizations are working to preserve the koala bears....they are too cute to be on the endangered species list!!!!
Why couldn't koalas be introduced to other, safer environments? There, we could prompt breeding and increase general population and then introduce them to the wild again.
That way, we can maintain a sufficient population.
But the only way to survive is the food they eat, the need those leaves to survive, what if there's no other places for them to eat those leaves.
Good point Arjun. Actually, koalas had been endangered earlier too.They were affected by a disease that was impacting the very survival of their species. Their population came back because of intense conservation efforts.
This time though, habitat destruction is causing the koala population to be threatened. At the end of the day, koalas depend on eucalyptus that grows in the wild. Cultivated eucalyptus can at times be poisonous for them. Unfortuntately, if koalas are not allowed to remain in their natural habitat, we may lose them completely this time around!
I LOVE Koalas!!!!!:)
Noooo! My Koala friends are in MORTAL PERIL!!!!!
I want to save that species
I have been to australia,, and I LOVE the koalas. They really are not mean at all, unless you attack them. But, when I saw the koala,They said they were being hurt badly.
Koalas eat about 2 and a half pounds of leaves everyday. Wow, that is a lot of leaves.
I never knew that koalas were part Wombat. That is so cool. I love koalas so much i just had to read this TRUE article.
cool
So vulnerable from forest fires -sigh-
Koalas are amazing creatures and I love this article about them.
i <3 koalas!!!