Koala

From Conservapedia

The Koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) is an arboreal (tree-dwelling) herbivorous animal native to Australia, feeding almost exclusively on the leaves of the Eucalyptus tree, and the only known member of the family Phascolarctidae. This animal sleeps about 20 hours a day so it is rarely awake at all. Although sometimes referred to as a koala bear, it is not a bear at all, but rather a marsupial, which means it raises its young in a pouch on its belly.

Contents 1 Distribution 2 The pouch 3 Diet 4 References

Distribution

The koala is found all along the eastern coast of Australia from near Adelaide to the southern part of Cape York Peninsula, and as far from the coast as there is enough rainfall to support suitable forests. The koalas of South Australia were largely exterminated during the early part of the 20th century, but the state has since been repopulated with Victorian stock. The koala is not found in Tasmania or Western Australia.

The pouch

The pouch of the koala, unlike those of kangaroos and possums, but like those of wombats and the extinct Tasmanian tiger, faces to the rear, i.e., downward. And as the mother is unable to lick the pouch clean in readiness for a new fetus, as the kangaroo does, it has a remarkable self-cleaning mechanism.^[1]

Diet

The koala feeds almost exclusively on the leaves of selected species of the eucalyptus (Australian gum) tree. Its diet affects many of its characteristics.

The eucalyptus leaf contains most of the water that the koala needs. It is commonly claimed that this attribute gave the animal its name, supposedly from an Aboriginal word meaning "no drink"; however, this is not conclusively established.^{[Citation Needed]}

The eucalyptus is unpalatable to other animals because of its high phenol and terpene content. The koala is immune to these toxins, which are stored in its fat cells.^{[Citation Needed]} The effect of this is that the koala is unpalatable to predators.^{[Citation Needed]} When a koala dies it is quite common for the corpse to become mummified due to the anti-bacterial properties of the phenol.^{[Citation Needed]}

References