Now koalas live only in Australia - and even then not everywhere, but only in the southeastern part of the continent. Outwardly, they resemble small bear cubs: inactive with thick short hair of a gray-smoky or reddish color, small round, blind eyes, a flattened oval nose, a short tail and large widely spaced ears with long hair along the edges.
It is now that koalas are one of the symbols of Australia, and once European settlers quickly ousted them from the places of Australia and at the same time almost destroyed their soft fur coat with three centimeters of fur because of the rare beauty. But these animals appeared on the mainland more than 30 million years ago, and according to the beliefs of local aborigines, they were also once people.
How the animal appeared: the version of the natives
The ancient legends of local natives tell about an orphan boy Kub-Bor (Tashy bear), who, although raised by his closest relatives, did not like him very much, so they constantly offended him. The boy was taught to survive in the forest and get food. Therefore, he had no problems with food, but it was difficult with water, since Cour-Bor was constantly thirsty.
When one day all the adults went hunting and gathering food, forgetting to hide the buckets of water, a child saw them - and gradually drank all the contents, leaving the tribe without water. After that, he climbed onto the eucalyptus tree and began to monotonously sing a song, from which the tree, on the top of which he was sitting, began to grow extremely rapidly, and by evening it turned out to be the largest in the entire forest. And then the daens (natives) returned.
They did not find water, but found a child hiding in a huge eucalyptus tree. At first they could not reach Cour Bora, because the branches of the huge tree were extremely high. But then two of them managed to climb the tree. The boy was seized by them, beaten right on top of the tree, and thrown down.
Naturally, Kur-Bor crashed to death. But when the natives approached him, they saw that the boy gradually began to turn into a koala. Having completed the transformation, the animal came to life, rushed to the eucalyptus and climbed up.
The last words that the daens heard from the koala were that if he and his kind were killed in order to eat, it would only need to be cooked whole. If anyone disobeys, his spirit will come out of the carcass of the killed beast and severely punish the guilty - such a drought will come that neither people nor animals can survive it. Only koalas will survive, for which the moisture contained in eucalyptus leaves will be quite enough.
The koalas themselves, according to the beliefs of the natives, have not been drinking water since then. Their ancestor, being human, drank plenty of it. This belief arose for one simple reason: before, almost no one had ever seen these animals at a watering place.
Scientists version
It is believed that the koala family appeared more than 30 million years ago, and consisted of at least eighteen species (and some of them were thirty times larger than koalas). As for the "modern" animals, they are much younger. Their age is only 15 million years.
Europeans discovered this animal in the early 19th century. These were the remains of a koala found among the natives. Officer Barralier, who discovered them, alcoholized them and sent them to the governor of New South Wales. A year later, not far from Sydney, the animal itself was caught.
At first, koalas were found only in the southeast of Australia, as well as in the south of the continent (but they were quickly exterminated there at the beginning of the 20th century in pursuit of profit). It is believed that these animals also lived in the west of the mainland, as evidenced by the remains found there.
Type characteristic
Scientists still have not really been able to determine what kind of animal the animal that lives in Australia belongs to. At first they thought it was a panda or a bear, then they decided that its relative was a wombat, a kangaroo or an opossum (all of them, like the koala, are herbivorous marsupials). But if the relationship still exists, then the researchers have not yet been able to trace their roots.
Animal Features
By itself, the koala is a medium-sized animal. The weight of a large male from the southern part of the continent is about fifteen kilograms, a female from the north is ten kilograms less. The average length of an adult koala is about eighty centimeters.
The marsupial sleeps on trees for about twenty hours a day. Active activity leads at night, climbing on the tops in search of leaves. During the day, even if the animal is awake, it sits motionless or sleeps, hugging the eucalyptus with its paws.
The animal has interesting characteristics that distinguish it from other animals, because of which it was assigned to a separate species.
Paws
The paws of the koala are ideal for climbing trees and allow the adult to grasp tree branches without any problems, and the baby to hold on to the mother's back. The animal sleeps only on eucalyptus, tightly clasping the tree with its paws:
- The koala has two grasping fingers on its front paws, located slightly apart from the rest;
- Three other fingers are along the brush;
- All fingers on the forelimbs have extremely strong claws;
- The thumb on the foot of the koala does not have a claw (unlike the other four).
- All koala fingers have fingerprints that are extremely human-like.
Teeth
The teeth of the animal are designed to chew grass. Therefore, their incisors are like a razor and are able to quickly cut leaves. The remaining teeth are grinding, they are separated from the incisors by a wide gap.
Mind and ingenuity
Alas, modern koalas are stupid. If the brain of their ancestors completely filled the cranial cavity, then in animals that have survived to this day, it is much smaller. According to one theory, this happened due to the fact that koalas feed mainly on eucalyptus leaves and shoots, which contain an extremely small level of energy.
Therefore, the brain of modern koalas is only 1.2% of their total weight, and forty percent of the cranial cavity is filled with cerebrospinal fluid. The lack of intelligence negatively affects the life of the animals themselves. For example, accustomed to seek salvation in trees, they do not always consider it necessary to get down from them and run away from the fire. Instead, they only press closer to the eucalyptus trees.
Character
Koala is an extremely calm animal. He sleeps from 18 to 20 hours a day, the rest of the time he devotes to food. The koala lives on a tree, and descends to the ground mainly only in order to move to another eucalyptus, to which it is not able to jump through the air.
From eucalyptus to eucalyptus, they jump extremely easily and confidently. If they decide to flee, they are even able to go to a fairly vigorous gallop to climb the nearest tree.
Food
As for the slowness of the koala not in an emergency, this is primarily due to its nutrition. It feeds only on the shoots and leaves of the eucalyptus tree. The metabolism of the koala is twice as slow as that of other mammals (except wombats and sloths) - this feature compensates for the insufficient nutritional value of eucalyptus leaves.
The question of why koalas prefer eucalyptus leaves baffles many. Because eucalyptus leaves are not only fibrous and low in protein, but they also contain phenolic and terpene compounds and even hydrocyanic acid, which are extremely poisonous to almost all living organisms.
As for koalas, deadly poisons, which of intestinal tract enter the bloodstream, are completely neutralized by the liver. The animals have a very long caecum - almost two and a half meters (in humans - no more than eight centimeters). It is in it that poisonous food is digested. There are many bacteria in the intestines of koalas that process the leaves into compounds that are digestible for the koala.
On the day the animal eats about one kilogram of leaves, while crushing and chewing them very carefully. And interestingly, the resulting mass is stored in the cheek pouches.
Koalas do not eat leaves from every tree: their extremely good sense of smell allows them to choose only those plants where there are fewer poisonous compounds. Therefore, out of eight hundred species of eucalyptus, koalas eat only one hundred and twenty. And then, when their nose tells them that the food has become too poisonous, they go looking for another suitable eucalyptus for themselves (if the koalas did not have the opportunity to change the tree in time, they often became victims of poisoning).
They give preference to trees that grow on fertile land - they are less poisonous. To compensate for the lack of minerals in the body, animals sometimes eat the earth.
Eucalyptus leaves for koalas are also a source of moisture. They drink water mainly during a drought or when they are sick. In Australia, these animals have recently been increasingly caught near their pools when they come to drink water.
Temperature
Koalas do not have a layer of subcutaneous fat that can protect them from the cold. Firstly, if the temperature is too low, they are rescued by wool (their fur is water-repellent), and secondly, in order to keep warm, their blood circulation, like in humans, slows down.
Communication
Koalas are considered almost the most defenseless and harmless animals in the world. They do not attack anyone and absolutely do not know how to protect themselves. If you hurt them, at best they will run away, most likely they will not hit back and bite.
But this animal can cry. And he can cry as long as the pain causes him discomfort. And the koala cries like a child - loudly, tremblingly and angrily. The same sound can also symbolize the presence of danger.
Koalas are surprisingly silent. Since they live quite far from each other, in order to communicate with their own kind, they use a fairly wide range of sounds.
Males, in order to show their social and physical status, grunt in a peculiar way, and thus find out which of them is cooler (they are not going to waste strength and energy on fights, and if this happens, it is quite rare). Females yell much less often, but sometimes they are able to express aggression with a roar-grunt, and also use this sound to express sexual behavior. But mothers and their cubs do not roar - they make quiet, quiet sounds, reminiscent of clicking (to “talk to each other”) or grumbling (if they are dissatisfied or annoyed with something).
Cries during the mating season
When the mating season begins, the males give such a loud calling sound that it can be heard for a kilometer. Interestingly, this sound is extremely loud and at the same time at a low frequency, which is not typical for small animals the size of a koala. They manage to publish it only with the help of the vocal cords that are behind the larynx.
The female chooses a groom for herself, based precisely on such invocative calls (in any case, preference is given to larger individuals). Despite the fact that the songs of the male remind us of the snoring of a drunkard, the angry grumbling of a pig or the creaking of rusty hinges, females are extremely fond of such sounds and attract them.
The better the koala screams, the more brides he will collect, since there are much more females than males. In one season, one male can have about five wives.
Offspring
Koalas breed once every one to two years. Females create a family already at the age of two, males - at the age of three or four years.
The mother carries the cub for thirty to thirty-five days. Usually only one baby is born, twins are extremely rare. The length of a small koala is from 15 to 18 mm, weight is about five grams, while it is hairless and completely blind. Immediately after birth, the baby climbs into the mother's pouch, where he spends the next six months. So that the cub does not get hurt and does not fall out, the “entrance” to the bag is not located at the top, like a kangaroo, but at the bottom.
At first, he feeds on mother's milk. Weaning from it gradually, and the transitional food is quite original: the mother regularly excretes special stools in the form of liquid porridge from half-digested eucalyptus leaves. The baby needs such food, because this is the only way to get the microflora he needs, since bacteria live in the mother's intestines that help the body cope with food that is indigestible for the child's stomach.
True, such a diet does not last long, after a month he begins to eat the leaves themselves, and at the age of seven months he moves from the bag to his mother's back. Finally, the grown koala leaves the mother's embrace in a year. But far from all leave: while young females go to look for sites for themselves, males quite often stay with their mother for up to three years.
dangers
Usually a koala lives from eight to thirteen years (although in captivity there have been cases when the animals lived to be twenty). Their number for some time (until the Australian authorities took up the solution of this problem) was declining very quickly. If at the beginning of the 20th century the number of koalas was 10 million individuals, then after a hundred of them only 100 thousand remained, most of which live in private territories. In the wild, according to various sources, only from 2 to 8 thousand live.
In nature, koalas have practically no enemies - apparently, the animal soaked in eucalyptus aroma scares off enemies with its smell. Only people eat them, and wild dingo dogs can attack from animals, but this is also a rare occurrence, because koalas rarely go down, and dogs do not jump on trees.
More recently, these animals were on the verge of extinction. The main reason is human activity, as well as their extreme propensity to various diseases.
Diseases
Koalas are rather sickly animals - apparently, the monotonous diet affects. They are especially susceptible to cystitis, periostitis of the skull, conjunctivitis. Sinusitis often causes pneumonia in them, which at the beginning of the last century greatly reduced the population.
Animals are killed and viral bacteria Chlamydia Psittaci, which are tacitly considered the "AIDS" of koalas. They affect the ureter and eyes of animals, and if they are not helped in time, the disease will first lead to infertility, then to vision problems, and eventually to death.
Fur traders
Even before the beginning of the 20th century huge amount koalas (more than one million) were destroyed by fur traders, after which there were almost no animals left. And only then (in 1927) the Australian government banned the trade in koala fur, and three years later - to import their skins. This led to the end of the barbaric extermination of koalas, and their population began to gradually increase.
Deforestation
Due to continuous deforestation, koalas are forced to constantly go in search of new trees, so they have to go down. And they are not used to life on earth, because they move here with difficulty, so they become easy prey.
Cars
In connection with deforestation, koalas in search of a new home are increasingly on the tracks. Cars rushing at great speed frighten them extremely, the animals become numb (the so-called "koala syndrome" - males are especially susceptible to it) and stop moving or begin to rush along the road. According to statistics, about 200 koalas are under the wheels of cars every month - and, unfortunately, many of them die in the process.
At the same time, the authorities are trying to solve this problem in a rather interesting way: they stretch artificial lianas over the highway, which connect eucalyptus trees on both sides of the highway. The koalas have appreciated this idea and willingly cross the freeway.
Dogs
Once on the ground and seeing a wild dingo dog, the koala does not understand all the danger, and does not run away to the tree. As a result, it often turns out to be torn apart.
fires
The trees that koalas love to live on contain eucalyptus oil, thanks to which fires flare up extremely strongly and cannot be extinguished for a long time. The fire has completely destroyed more than one population of koalas.
Pools
Many will be surprised to learn how many koalas die when they get into the pool. Contrary to the popular belief that they drink absolutely nothing, they still come to the watering hole, but often not to the source, but to the structure created by human hands, which does not have the usual descents for animals. Despite the fact that they are excellent swimmers, koalas often drown when exhausted.
Drought
Due to drought, eucalyptus leaves turn black and dry, so koalas deprived of water often die of thirst, especially those who live far from artificial or natural sources water.
animal rescue
If it were for the inactive activities of animal rights activists, we would only know about the koala from the schematic drawings of their textbooks. They managed not only to push through several laws to protect these animals, but also to attract patrons who are ready to donate money to save the "teddy bears".
In Australia, parks and reserves were created, special hospitals were organized for these animals with the latest equipment and highly qualified veterinarians. This is not much, but it helps - about 4 thousand animals are saved a year. Survive about twenty percent of the animals that fell into the hands of doctors.
Life in captivity
As already mentioned, most koalas live in private estates, the owners of which have nothing against such a neighborhood. People are often captivated by the appearance of these cute fluffy animals, similar to teddy bears, and they tame them. Koalas, although they love solitude, they are extremely friendly. They become attached very quickly, and if the person they are used to leaves somewhere, then the animal cries. If you pester them too much, koalas are able to begin to defend themselves with teeth and nails.
Keeping a koala at home is not easy - those who want to have this animal will be required to provide it with at least one kilogram of fresh eucalyptus leaves per day, which is quite difficult. For example, in Russia, these trees grow only in Sochi, but this type of eucalyptus is absolutely not suitable for koalas.
Interested in what continent the koala lives on? Correct answer - Australia.
Exclusively on the Green Continent lives this unusual marsupial an animal that looks like a small teddy bear. Interestingly, many people consider the koala to be a bear, but is it true?
The appearance of the koala is unique. A small animal, depending on sex and age, weighs from 7 to 16 kilograms.
Koala head is wide and big, the nose stands out and has a black back, the eyes are small, and the body of the animal is covered with fur.
The color of the koala is grey. The coat is short, thick and soft. Koalas live in Australia, where spend their whole lives in trees.
That is why the paws of this animal are strong, and nails long and sharp. Phascolarctos (from the Greek - "bag") - this is how the genus of koalas is called in science. This name was proposed in 1816 year French zoologist Henri Blainville.
Settlers from Britain who populated Australia in the late 18th century called the koala bear, because appearance This animal is very reminiscent of the shape of a clubfoot. To this day, out of habit, many refer to the koala as a species of bear, but this is wrong.
Interesting fact! 34-24 million years ago, the Phascolarctidae family was quite diverse and included 18 species of marsupial bears. Among them was also a giant - the Queensland koala Koalemus. It was almost 30 times larger than the modern koala.
Koala is separate view, which is the only modern member of the Phascolarctidae family. It belongs to the basal related wombats of the marsupial family.
Where does the koala live
Koala lives on mainland Australia in its southeastern part, as well as on the nearby Australian islands.
Hundreds of years ago this animal lived on the entire continent, but the settlers drove the animal out of its habitat.
Indigenous people of Australia very sensitive to this cute animal.
Legend has it that the ancestor of the modern koala, which was gigantic in size, helped people get to the mainland.
The beast dwells in subtropical rainforests Australia. Preferably, the habitat of koalas are locations near the water, where eucalyptus grows. The koala feeds exclusively on eucalyptus leaves.
Almost all my life this "bear" spends in the crowns of this plant. The animal descends from the trees only to find another secluded place.
It's important to know! When koalas are kept in captivity and eat eucalyptus leaves forcibly, this can threaten the animal with poisoning.
The daily rate of eucalyptus, which the koala eats, contains a poisonous compound(hydrocyanic acid) in an amount that could become an instant poison for any other animal. Zoologists suggest that it is precisely because of this that the koala is not a potential prey for predators.
They choose habitats for koalas in eucalyptus crowns, which grow on fertile soils. Their leaves contain less poison, but you need to find useful plant helps the animal well-developed sense of smell. The daily norm of eucalyptus leaves for a koala is 1 kg, and this animal practically does not use water.
Characteristic features and lifestyle of the animal
There are a number of features of the koala that distinguish it significantly even endemic to Australia.
Firstly, papillary fingerprint pattern koalas are almost indistinguishable from humans.
Another feature of the koala is that even a huge koala cub is always born. the size of bean seeds and weighs 6 grams.
Cub first long period is in the mother's pouch, and then moves to the back of the parent.
Since the koala lives in fairly calm places where there are no arboreal predators, its movements are smooth and calm. Sleeping koala on the branches of eucalyptus up to twenty hours a day.
Interesting fact! The sedentary lifestyle of the koala is due to the fact that the metabolism of this animal is quite slow. That is why koalas are capable of being stationary for three to four hours.
It is also interesting that, despite a rather relaxed lifestyle, in life-threatening moments, these animals capable of jumping agile and fast.
Koala conservation in Australia
In the 19th and 20th centuries, the koala, like the platypus, exterminated for fur.
Only for 1924 more than two million skins of this animal were exported from the eastern territories of Australia.
When the number of koalas decreased markedly, and this happened by 1927, the country's authorities forbidden to exterminate this animal.
The koala population has started to bounce back only in the middle of the 20th century, although today this animal has the status of lower risk (low risk) and is considered endangered.
Threatens koala breeding today: deforestation, fires and ticks. The most comfortable living conditions for koalas are Kounu (Perth) and Lone Pine (Brisbane) koala parks. The protection of koalas throughout the country is carried out by an international organization called Australian Koala Foundation.
Australia is a territory of unique marsupial animals, among which one of the most popular animals is a koala. A sedentary lifestyle, a rigid eucalyptus diet and a soft toy-like appearance have made this representative of the Australian fauna world-famous.
In conclusion, we suggest you look at a few funny videos about cute marsupial bears:
Koala is a marsupial animal of the infraclass family Marsupials, families and genera Koalas. Scientists have not yet fully figured out what kind of animal a koala is: a bear, a raccoon, or someone else. The koala, or Australian bear, is the only animal that eats only eucalyptus leaves.
What does a marsupial bear look like?
Few people have seen a koala live, but many have seen videos and photos with this animal. The koala actually looks a bit like a bear cub. For example, the tail of a koala is the same as that of a bear - small, which is almost invisible on the body. However, it cannot be confused with any other living being.
Koala is a rather small animal: for example, the weight of a marsupial bear is from seven to twelve kilograms. Usually the coat of a koala is short, but thick, gray in color. On the abdomen, the animal has a lighter coat. The eyes of the koala are small, but the ears and nose are large. The claws on the paws are sharp and long. They are needed by marsupial bears in order to easily move through the trees.
Koala habitats
Koala is a marsupial animal, and it lives, of course, in Australia, as well as on neighboring islands (except Tasmania). Marsupials choose their places closer to the water, as there are tropical forests - the traditional habitat of koalas. Marsupials live in the south, east and slightly north of mainland Australia.
The photographer caught a rare moment when a koala decided to “wet his throat” in a country pool. The koala lives in humid subtropical, tropical and subequatorial forests, where a lot of eucalyptus grows - the only food source for the koala.
About the nutrition of marsupial bears
The koala feeds only on eucalyptus, despite the fact that this plant contains hydrocyanic acid, poisonous to animals. The fact is that this animal is less susceptible to its action. Moreover, nature even came up with a kind of protection for them: in different seasons of the year, koalas feed on different types of eucalyptus (at certain times, these types of eucalyptus contain less hydrocyanic acid than others). However, sometimes a koala can still get poisoned by eucalyptus leaves.
Contrary to popular belief that koalas never drink, these animals, although not often, find water sources and drink it.
Koala breeding
Koalas, which always live alone, gather in groups only during the breeding season. Most often, such a group consists of one male and two to five (and sometimes more) females. Koalas mate in trees. Koalas breed once a year or once every two years.
Pregnancy of marsupial bears lasts about a month. Usually only one cub is born, about 1.5 cm long and weighing no more than 6 g. Since the koala is a marsupial animal, the bag is used for quite a long time when carrying a child - about six months. At 30 weeks, when the cub has grown a little, he can already eat the liquid excrement of his parents (this is necessary, since they contain the necessary substances for normal digestion). After a while, koalas grow up completely and begin to live their own lives.
Features of koalas
What is so special about a marsupial bear? He has many interesting abilities and differences from other living beings.
The koala is endemic to Australia. In other words, apart from Australia and neighboring islands, the koala does not live, only in zoos. In addition, due to its adaptability to exclusively climb trees and eat eucalyptus, the marsupial bear is slow and calm enough.
Another one interesting feature koalas - they give birth to very small cubs, having much larger size and body weight. It's amazing that eight-kilogram parents can have children the size of a bean seed!
Enemies of koalas
Koala is an amazing animal: in nature they have no enemies! Why did it happen? There are several reasons for this.
Firstly, marsupials are found in Australia and live in trees, but there are no tree predators on this mainland that can harm koalas. Secondly, the koala feeds exclusively on eucalyptus leaves, which are not harmful to the animal, but can be dangerous for other animals that want to eat the marsupial bear.
What is useful and what is harmful koala
Koala is a very good-natured creature that can both help a person and harm him.
The main benefit of koalas is that many children, and sometimes adults, love them very much in zoos. Scientists often experiment on these animals. Thanks to this, charming creatures are protected by law from shooting and poaching for valuable fur.
Alas, koalas can harm people. When there are too many marsupials and they do not have enough food, they are able to move closer to people's homes and even cause accidents. Despite this, the koala is a very interesting animal that has not yet been fully studied by scientists.
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Koala is a cute small animal that lives only in Australia. Belongs to the marsupial family. This animal consumes little water, and therefore such a name, the word "koala" means "does not drink."
The generic name of the koala from Latin means marsupial bear. But this beast has nothing to do with bears, only outwardly it looks a bit like a fluffy bear. Look at the photo of the koala animal, they look very impressive.
The koala is considered one of the symbols of Australia. In ancient times, they were killed for their furry skins. Also, the destruction of the eucalyptus subjected the koala to extinction. Later, a ban on hunting this animal was introduced.
Description
The body of the koala is short 70-85 cm, weight 7-12 kg. The head is large round shape, with miniature eyes and fluffy ears, the nose is black, not covered with hair. The tail is almost invisible, it is also fluffy.
Everyone knows the color of the koala, the hair on the back is gray or brownish, on the chest it is white. The hairs on the edges of the ears are white. In the northern part of Australia, koalas have less fluffy fur. Males are larger than females, their muzzle is wider, and their ears are smaller.
The lifestyle of the koala is sedentary, so it is well adapted to this. The body is covered with thick fur, thanks to which the animal is protected from bad weather and temperature changes. This is important because koalas live in trees around the clock and do not have any shelters.
Note!
The paws have nails that are strongly curved for ease of movement along tree trunks.
A koala has thirty teeth. They are adapted to eating eucalyptus leaves with a lot of fiber.
The brain of a koala in relation to the body is two tenths of a percent, which is very small compared to other animals. This is due to the low-calorie food of animals.
How does a koala live in nature?
Koalas spend most of the day sleeping, up to twenty hours. The rest of the time is spent feeding and moving around. Animals descend to the ground very rarely.
Sleep in koalas takes place during the daytime. Koalas have slow and lazy movements. But if there is any threat, the koala can move very quickly.
Note!
Koalas rarely live in pairs, they are solitary animals. Sedentary lifestyle. Every animal has favorite trees for food.
The life of a koala can reach 10 years in nature. More in trouble.
What do koalas eat?
Eucalyptus has evergreen leaves, so koalas feed on them all year round. In one day, an adult koala can eat up to 500 grams of food. The animals do not feed on all types of eucalyptus, but only 30 out of 600.
For many herbivores, eucalyptus is poisonous and harmful. The koala is an animal with adaptations due to which eucalyptus leaves are digested and assimilated in the body. Such food is low-calorie, so the animals sleep almost all the time.
procreation
There are 7-9 females per male. Sexual maturity occurs at the age of two years. The mating season takes place in late spring. This can be understood by the loud roars of males.
Note!
In one year, the female brings 1-2 cubs. Gestation lasts 30-40 days. The weight of the cub is half a kilogram. The cub develops for half a year in the mother's pouch. Then the mother begins to wear it on her back.
The baby koala animal becomes independent at 11-12 months, but continues to live next to its mother.
conservation in nature
Koalas have almost no enemies. Firstly, predators do not prey on them, due to the fact that their meat smells like eucalyptus. Secondly, there are no tree predators in Australia, and koalas live on trees almost around the clock.
The number of koalas in nature can be up to one million. Nobody did the calculations. The main problem of the disappearance of koalas is deforestation, up to 400 thousand hectares of forest are destroyed every year.
What is useful and what is harmful
The koala animal is cute and kind, but it can harm a person and also help.
Koalas are very popular in zoos. You can see many photos of koalas and people together. But breeders often experiment on these animals.
Koalas do harm not on purpose, but only because of a lack of food. They can get out on the road, which leads to traffic accidents, the color of the koala is gray, so they can sometimes be overlooked.
Koala is an unusual animal that is not fully understood.
Photo of a koala
Koala is a small, cute, meek animal that lives on only one continent - Australia. In the Aboriginal language, the word "koala" means "does not drink." The animal really practically does not drink water, being content with the moisture contained in eucalyptus leaves. Its Greek-Latin generic name "Phascolarctos" means "marsupial bear". The koala was indeed called a bear for a long time, but it is not a bear, and it has nothing to do with bears, except that it looks like a fluffy teddy bear. In fact, the koala belongs to the marsupials, it is the only modern representative of the Koal family (Phascolarctidae).
Today, the koala is Australia's most beloved marsupial, one of the recognized symbols of Australia, but this has not always been the case. The first European settlers destroyed millions of these defenseless animals for the sake of thick fur. However, eucalyptus deforestation, drought and fires posed an even greater threat to the survival of the species. The threat to koalas peaked in 1924, when more than 2 million skins were exported. By that time, koalas had disappeared from South Australia and much of Victoria and New South Wales. As a result of public protest, a ban on hunting was introduced starting in 1944, and only after 10 years their population began to gradually recover. Currently, in a number of areas, in particular in the south of the range, the koala has again become a common species, and this animal is listed by the IUCN as causing the least concern. However, intensive deforestation poses a threat to northern populations.
Description and photo of the koala
The appearance of koalas is characteristic: the body is short and stocky, the head is large, rounded, with small eyes, large fluffy ears and a patch of bare skin on the nose. The tail is rudimentary, almost invisible from the outside. The color of thick and soft fur on the dorsal side varies from gray to reddish-brown; on the chin, chest and inner surface of the forelimbs, the fur is white. The ears are fringed with long white hair, the sacrum is covered with white spots. In the north of the habitat, the fur of the animals is shorter and less frequent.
The body length of a koala is 70-85 cm, weight is 7-12 kg. Males are more massive than females, they have a wider muzzle, and the size auricles less. In addition, males have a scent gland on their chest, with which they leave marks on trees within their territory. Females have a pouch that opens backwards with two nipples.
The koala is remarkably adapted to a sedentary arboreal lifestyle. Its body is covered with thick fur, which protects the animal from bad weather and temperature fluctuations, which is very important - after all, koalas do not provide any shelters or shelters. Large paws are equipped with strongly curved claws, thanks to which the animal can easily climb the highest tree with smooth bark. The photo shows good views of the powerful and strong claws of the koala. If the beast plunges them into a tree, it will not fall down.
Climbing up the eucalyptus, the koala grabs the trunk with strong front paws, moving the body up and at the same time pulling the front limbs. On the hind legs, the first toe is opposed to the rest, the second and third are almost fused. On the front paws, the first and second toes are opposed to the others, providing a firm grip when climbing. The soles of the paws are bare, with a palpar pattern. An interesting fact is that the fingerprints of koalas are almost identical to those of humans.
In total, the koala has 30 teeth, three pairs of incisors and rudimentary fangs are preserved in the upper jaw. Teeth are well adapted to feeding on eucalyptus leaves containing a large number of fibers. The chewed leaves undergo microbial fermentation in the caecum, which is the longest in relation to body length among all mammals (its length is 1.8-2.5 meters).
In the photo, the koala habitually absorbs the leaves of his beloved eucalyptus.
The brain of a koala compared to the size of the body is one of the smallest among mammals, only 0.2% of the total body weight. Scientists believe that this is due to adaptation to a low-calorie diet.
Where does the koala live?
Koalas live only in Australia, where they are found on many hundreds of thousands of square kilometers in the east of the continent from northern Queensland to southern Victoria. Populations of these marsupials are often separated from each other by wide expanses of cleared forests. Koalas have chosen humid mountain forests in the south, vineyards in the north, copses and semi-desert landscapes in western Australia. The density of populations depends on the productivity of the land. In the south, in rainforests, it reaches 8 animals per hectare, and in the semi-desert zone on a plot of 100 hectares, only one individual can live.
How does a koala live in nature?
The life of koalas is closely connected with the trees of the genus Eucalyptus, in the crowns of which they spend almost all their time. They spend most of the day (18-20 hours) sleeping, feeding takes 2-3 hours, the rest of the time the animals just sit. Only occasionally do they descend to the ground to run from one tree to another.
Koalas usually sleep during the day, but at night they are busy slowly absorbing eucalyptus leaves. The movements of the animals are usually very slow, lazy, although a frightened animal is able to move very quickly.
Koalas lead a sedentary lifestyle. Most are singles, they rarely live in pairs. Adult animals occupy certain areas of habitat. Under favorable conditions, these areas are relatively small: a male can occupy only 1.5-3 hectares, females even less - 0.5-1 hectares. In areas poor in vegetation, the plot of a male can be more than 100 hectares. The territory of a dominant male can cover the territories of up to 9 females, and also the territories of subordinate males. Each animal has several favorite fodder trees on its individual plot.
In nature, the koala lives up to 10 years, the maximum known life expectancy in captivity is 18 years.
What do koalas eat? Eucalyptus Diet
The leaves of the evergreen eucalyptus serve as a constant source of food for koalas. An adult eats about 500 grams of fresh leaves per day, and although more than 600 species of eucalyptus grow on the Green Continent, only 30 of them feed on koala leaves. Preference is given to different regions different types eucalyptus, but mainly those that grow in conditions of high humidity.
Such a diet may seem dubious at first glance, because eucalyptus leaves are inedible or even poisonous to most herbivores. They are poor nutrients and contain a lot of indigestible fiber, as well as toxic phenols and terpenes. However, these animals have several adaptations that help them cope with such inedible food. They do not eat some leaves at all, the toxic components of others are neutralized by the liver and excreted from the body. Since the diet is low in calories, koalas sleep up to 20 hours a day. They conserve water, and except in the hottest weather, they get the moisture they need from the leaves they eat. Thus, evolution has given koalas a source of food available all year round and also spared them food competition.
procreation
Koalas are polygamous, with a small number of males accounting for the majority of matings. But the details of the distribution of mating between dominant and subdominant animals have not been fully elucidated.
Both female and male koalas reach sexual maturity at the age of two years. From this time, females begin to breed, while males start breeding 2-3 years later, when they become large enough to compete for the female.
The breeding season is in spring and early summer (September-January). At this time, males move over very long distances, and when they meet, skirmishes often occur between them. During "weddings" "grooms" constantly roar. These screams, consisting of loud breaths followed by gurgling exhalations, are meant to attract the attention of brides, as well as warn competitors. The call of one male usually causes a response from nearby relatives. During this period, males often mark the boundaries of their territory by rubbing their chest against trees.
The female brings in a year one litter from one, less often from two cubs. Pregnancy lasts 35 days. The cub at birth is extremely small - its weight is less than 0.5 kg. The newborn climbs into the bag, where it is securely attached to one of the two nipples. In a bag, a small koala spends about 6 months, where it grows and develops. For some time, the mother wears it on her back.
From the age of seven months, the baby switches to eating a special gruel from semi-digested eucalyptus leaves, secreted digestive system mothers, getting used to the food of adult animals. A young koala becomes independent by 11 months of age, but usually continues to stay close to its mother for several more months.
conservation in nature
In nature, the koala has practically no enemies, predators do not favor its meat, apparently due to the fact that it has a strong eucalyptus smell. Despite this, animals are often considered vulnerable. Although no one has officially recorded these marsupials, according to unofficial data, their number is from 40 thousand to 1 million. Habitat destruction is the main threat to most koala populations in the northern part of the range. But the situation is much more serious in the semi-desert regions of central Queensland, where about 400 thousand hectares are cleared annually for pastures and other agricultural needs. And although environmentalists are sounding the alarm and trying to stop the destruction of forests, this problem remains relevant for the agricultural regions of central Queensland.
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