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Almeda Mithani
The destruction and fragmentation of habitat means koalas must spend more time on the ground moving from tree to tree. This makes them much more vulnerable to being hit by cars and attacked by dogs, while elevated levels of stress make them prone to sickness and disease. Fortunately, sick and injured koalas often make their way to koala hospitals where can they be treated and once they recover can be returned to the wild.
Excessive tree-clearing for agricultural and urban development has led to the destruction and fragmentation of large areas of koala habitat. However, the efforts of landowners, farmers, community groups and conservation organisations, with support from governments and corporate partners, are now seeing areas of koala habitat being protected and cleared areas restored to provide future habitat for koalas and other wildlife species.
The koala is the quintessential Australian animal, known globally and much loved. People come from all over the world to see koalas at wildlife parks and zoos. It is featured in advertisements, games, cartoons, and as soft toys.In the wild, koalas serve as ambassadors for the many other species that also inhabit the Australian bush. Protecting bushland areas in an effort to save koala populations also protects the habitat of a wide range of animal and plant species such as possums, gliders, wombats, quolls, birds, and reptiles.Koalas also have great cultural significance to Aboriginal Australians and feature in Dreamtime stories, songs, and rock art.
Have you ever heard someone refer to a koala as a "koala bear?" Well, like bears, koalas are mammals, and they have round, fuzzy ears and look cute and cuddly, like a teddy bear. But koalas are not bears. They are members of a group of pouched mammals called marsupials. Marsupials include kangaroos, wallabies, wallaroos, wombats, possums, and opossums. Koalas look soft, but their fur feels like the coarse wool of a sheep. They also seem cuddly, but koalas are not tame, and they don't make good pets.
Eucalypt forests are home, shelter, and food for koalas. Koalas are adapted for living in the crooks of branches: they have a reduced tail, a curved spine, and a rounded rear end. But they do travel on the ground when necessary, to get from tree to tree or to a new area. On hot days, koalas select the coolest trees and the coolest locations in those trees (against the trunk and other low, shaded branches) for resting. On cooler days, koalas are more likely to rest farther away from the trunk where they can absorb heat from the sun.
Koalas have few natural predators, although sometimes a dingo or large owl can take one. The most common direct causes of koala deaths are from motor vehicles and dogs. Koalas are definitely safest high up in trees.
At the San Diego Zoo, koalas are offered fresh branches from several kinds of eucalypts each day. These picky eaters can then select their favorite varieties. Our koalas eat 1 to 1.5 pounds (454 to 680 grams) of leaves each day.
Female marsupials have a pouch in which they carry their baby, called a joey. Many marsupials, like kangaroos, have a pouch that opens upward, toward their head. But koalas have a pouch that opens toward their hind legs. This adaptation keeps burrowing marsupials like wombats, which are close relatives of koalas, from getting dirt in their pouch when they dig. Although prehistoric koalas eventually stopped burrowing and started living in trees, they still have the primitive, back-facing pouch.
A koala, like other marsupials, begins life in a very unusual way. When it is born, it is only about the size of a large jelly bean and is not yet fully developed. In fact, a newborn joey can't even see or hear, but it sure can climb! Soon after the joey is born, it uses strong forelimbs and hands to crawl from the birth canal into its mother's pouch. The joey attaches to one of two nipples in this warm, safe place where it drinks milk and grows during the next six months.
Wildlife care specialists at the Zoo say that each koala has a unique personality. Koalas make several different vocalizations, from snores to bellows to screams. Our conservation scientists are trying to understand why male koalas bellow. Is it to tell other males to stay away or to invite females to visit? The bellow sounds like a mixture of a motorcycle revving and a pig snorting!
We also strive to learn more about koalas. We have a conservation scientist studying a group on St. Bees Island, off the eastern coast of Australia, trying to learn how much land koalas need to find enough food and shelter and what their vocal communications may mean. Putting all the pieces together has provided a much deeper understanding of koala breeding biology. Our work has resulted in the Australian government declaring St. Bees a national park to further protect the koalas that live there.
Yet a primary objective of our koala conservation program has been to contribute to the successful conservation and management of koalas across their entire range, not just on St. Bees. As we have developed our knowledge base, we are proud to have achieved this goal. By investigating the seasonality of koala births on St. Bees and applying our knowledge to other sites, we have discovered a significant relationship between koala births and rainfall in central Queensland, Australia. This finding is crucial to understanding the impacts of climate change on Australian wildlife and has highlighted the key factors needed to protect koala habitat and plan for the long-term future of koalas in Australia. There is still plenty of work to be done!
The Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area of New South Wales is a potential refuge area for koalas and many other species, made up of over a million hectares of protected reserves. Historically, the Blue Mountains were a stronghold for koalas, but their status there today is uncertain. We do not know how many koalas occur there, what habitats they use, or the condition of their food trees. Any koalas are likely to be widely spread in low-density populations and difficult to track in challenging mountainous terrain. Researchers from the Australian conservation organization Science for Wildlife have placed GPS radio collars on some of the resident koalas, which is providing valuable information. Additionally, permits are now in place to train koala detection dogs to assist with the surveys. Given that dogs are normally not allowed into Australian national parks, this represents a major vote of support for our work.
Fieldwork on koalas in both Brisbane Valley and on St. Bees Island continues with our collaborators at the Queensland University of Technology. Their research in Brisbane Valley aims to determine how the size and shape of habitat patches affects koala ranging patterns and contributes to habitat connectivity. It is hoped that this work will lead to future land rehabilitation in the Brisbane Valley. On St. Bees Island, work continues with monitoring the local population and studying mate choice, tree use, and other aspects of koala ecology. Our Population Sustainability scientists are in the final phase of a three-year collaborative study that is examining the genetics of the koala across its entire native home range from North Queensland to Victoria. The results from this study will provide a comprehensive analysis that will assist conservation managers with the genetic management of wild koala populations, especially as they become increasingly isolated by development.
San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance maintains the largest koala population outside Australia and reaches a global public through exhibition, education, and research. We continue to gain key information from our breeding colony that supplies data on genetics, mate choice, vocal and scent communication, and health. The program generates funding to support research and conservation initiatives ranging from habitat mapping to studying koala biology in collaboration with our partners. There is a strong element of conservation education and outreach to the program, which has been in place for more than 30 years.
10) Although these beautiful creatures are protected by law, and not classed as an endangered species, their habitat is under threat. Sadly, around 80% of koala habitat has been lost to human homes, drought and bushfires.
Taronga is a not-for-profit organisation, so your koala encounter not only gives you a chance to connect with and learn about this iconic species, but you can also feel great knowing your experience is supporting our vital conservation work.
Size and weight: Koalas average 27-36 in (70 to 90cm) in length and weigh anywhere from 9 to 20 lbs (4-9 kg). Females tend to be both slightly smaller and slightly less heavy than males. Southern koalas are approximately 30% larger than their northern counterparts. This size difference is most likely an adaptation to deal with colder climates in the south.
Koalas are arboreal (tree dwelling) marsupials and have a number of adaptations advantageous to tree living. Their bodies are lean with long, muscular front and hind limbs and large, sharp claws to help with gripping tree trunks, and rough skin on the bottom of its feet to provide friction good for climbing. The koala has five digits on their front paws, two of which are opposable (this would be like a human having two thumbs). This evolutionary adaptation allows the koala to grip branches as its moves from tree to tree. Its hind paws have one opposable digit with no claw, again for grip, and its second and third digits are fused into one double claw the animal uses for grooming purposes. Its fur is thicker on its rump to provide cushion when sitting on branches.
Diet: Koalas are folivores (leaf eaters) and subsist primarily on eucalyptus leaves, though they will occasionally eat non-eucalypt plant species. They eat approximately a pound of leaves daily and rarely drink, obtaining water from its leafy diet. Though there are well over 600 species of eucalypt, koalas will often eat from only a handful of eucalypt species, often specific to the region. Eucalyptus leaves are highly toxic to most mammals, but koalas have digestive systems specially adapted to detoxify the poisonous chemicals in the leaves. They are the only known mammals other than the Greater Glider and Ringtail Possum that live on a eucalypt diet. Due to the high energy expenditure required to digest their food, which is high in fiber, low in nutrition, and also toxic to most animals and the species low metabolic rate, koalas spend anywhere from 18 to 20 hours of their day sleeping. Koalas are nocturnal and do the vast majority of their eating at night.
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