Katrina says: SAVE the Koala September FACT 20. The sinus cavities of koalas are amazingly huge and extend up above the nose between the eyes. This allows the koala to use their nose like a chemical laboratory testing the makeup of every leaf. Eucalyptols are poisonous and would kill us if we ate the leaves,… Read More »Koala fun Fact # 20 – Best Big Nose
Katrina says: SAVE the Koala September FACT 29. In 2022 the extinction status of the koala was changed from vulnerable to ENDANGERED. This means that no matter all we are doing, the koala situation is getting worse. This status measures how close to extinction a species is becoming. It is used all around the world.… Read More »Fact # 29 – Koalas ENDANGERED but we never give up!
Katrina says: SAVE the Koala September FACT 28. Koalas carry almost no fat throughout their bodies. Not among their limb muscles, and not even around their internal organs. One thing fat does is help to keep you warm. Body fat can also provide some emergency energy. It is why their insulating fur is so important.… Read More »Fact # 28 – koalas have the best thick fur coat!
Katrina says: SAVE the Koala September FACT 27. Koalas have a wonderful thick fur coat that insulates them. This thick coat also protects them from the hot summer sun. We think of thick coats as warming, but insulation is the key. When it gets hot, koalas drape themselves on thick branches. They also sit and… Read More »Fact # 27 – How to cool koalas down
Katrina says: SAVE the Koala September FACT 26. Eucalyptus leaves enough nutrition, but hardly any calories. Calories are what we burn up for energy. Koalas have to conserve energy as much as possible and that is why we see them sleeping so much. They can sleep up to 22 hours every day, but often they… Read More »Fact # 26 – Sleep and Digestion
Katrina says: SAVE the Koala September FACT 25. As well as a stomach like ours, and intestines, most digestion actually happens in a whopping 2m long caecum. We have tiny little one, about 2.5cm long and we call it the appendix. The koala caecum is filled with billions of special bacteria that break down the… Read More »Fact # 25 – Caecum (Appendix)
Katrina says: SAVE the Koala September FACT 24. Many still ask me whether this is true, but it is definitely false. Koalas can sure look like they have passed out because they are drunk or stoned. They certainly sleep in the strangest positions. But the leaves do not contain alcohol nor and kind of narcotic.… Read More »Fact # 24 – Drunk on Eucalyptus?
Katrina says: SAVE the Koala September FACT 23. If you got a shopping tote bag and stuffed it full of all the leaves you could get in, that’s about how many a koala needs to eat through every day. It doesn’t weigh a lot, but it is a lot of tough leaf munching! Join the… Read More »Fact # 23 – Eucalyptus Leaves
Karina says: SAVE the Koala September FACT 22. Male koalas bellow to mark their territory and announce their presence. The sound is amazing, have you heard it? Listen to the link below and you can hear a koala singing the Koala Gardens Groove!. Join the Colony and get involved Koalas who stay around at Koala… Read More »Fact # 22 – Male Bellow
Katrina says: SAVE the Koala September FACT 21. Male koalas have a gland in the middle of their chest. It produces an oily secretion that stains the area brown. It has a musky smell that is unique to koalas. The koala rubs his chest onto tree trunks, leaving an oily stamp of ownership. This stamp… Read More »Fact # 21 – Scent Gland
Katrina says: SAVE the Koala September FACT 19. Somehow they are comfortable. The hard pad of cartilage across their lower back is kind of like carrying a seat with you. When they rest in a tree you will notice they kind of sit, then roll back a little to sit on that pad. Their close… Read More »Fact # 19 – Cartilage
Katrina says: SAVE the Koala September FACT 18. 18-22 hours is a lot of sleep indeed! Koalas don’t always sleep deeply, some of that time they are just snoozing. They are considered nocturnal, but really their awake and asleep times are dictated by their stomach – their need to eat the next meal. Join the… Read More »Fact # 18 – Sleep
Katrina Says: SAVE the Koala September FACT 17. While it may look difficult, even dangerous, it takes less energy to take a leap across a few metres, than it does to climb down 10 or 15 metres, and back up again. Koalas are very good at calculating distances and angles, to take flying leaps in… Read More »Fact # 17 – Koalas Can Jump!
Katrina says: SAVE the Koala September FACT 16. Those amazing hands and feet help the koala grip and get hold of leaf, but the koala arms do way more work than their legs when it comes to climbing. A healthy koala has large arms which they use to propel themselves up the tree trunks. Their… Read More »Fact # 16 – Strong Arms
Katrina says: SAVE the Koala September FACT 15. Arboreal means ‘lives in the trees’. This is why habitat is so critical. The trees are everything to the koala – their shelter, their place of safety and their food source. Without forests, koalas have to move along the ground where they are vulnerable to many dangers… Read More »Fact # 15 – Arboreal (Tree Dwelling)
Katrina says: SAVE the Koala September FACT 14. Those claws are awesome aren’t they? This is the other feature, besides two thumbs that give koalas the advantage climbing about in the treetops. Their claws stay out like that all the time, they don’t retract like a cats do. They stay sharp all their life, and… Read More »Fact # 14 – Long Sharp Claws
Katrina says: SAVE the Koala September FACT 13. The koala foot really is something to get fascinated with. As well as that amazing thumb, the next two digits are fused together, the skin covers them both as though they are one toe. But you can see here that there are still the two claws at… Read More »Fact # 13 – Two Fused Toes
Katrina says: SAVE the Koala September FACT 12. You almost could say koalas are ‘all thumbs’ because they also have a well defined opposable thumb on their foot. This really gives them a big advantage in the tree tops as they can hold onto branches with their feet alone and use their hands to gather… Read More »Fact # 12 – Foot Thumbs
Katrina says: SAVE the Koala September FACT 11. I bet you all know this one. Koalas have 2 definite, opposable thumbs on each hand. They have 3 fingers, so still have 5 digits. These thumbs really assist them in climbing as does another feature of the koala hand. With two thumbs they are able to… Read More »Fact # 11 – Double Thumbs
Katrina says: SAVE the Koala September FACT 10. Primates include us, monkeys, apes, lemurs and only a few other animals. One feature of primates are their unique fingerprints. Only primates have this, oh, AND koalas! Join the Colony and get involved Koalas who stay around at Koala Gardens end up in lots of photos and… Read More »Fact # 10 – Fingerprints
Katrina says: SAVE the Koala September FACT 9. Koalas can analyse the composition of every leaf through their amazing sense of smell and taste. The ridges on their tongues and hard palate, called rugae, increase the surface area, assisting them to collect all the information they need. The leaves contain a lot of tannin and… Read More »Fact # 9 – Rugae
Katrina says: SAVE the Koala September FACT 8. We call a joey ‘back young’ once they come out of the pouch and begin riding on mums back. At first, they just stay in mums lap, and even hold on to her tummy to ride around, but that only lasts a short time. Joey may ride… Read More »Fact # 8 – Back Young
Katrina says: SAVE the Koala September FACT 7. Miracle of nature – joey needs beneficial bacteria to be able to digest tough eucalyptus leaves for the first time. Mum produces a special gooey mixture called pap, that is full of these bacteria. Joey eats this for a week or two until they can find they… Read More »Fact # 7 – Pap
Look at the size of this joey hand beneath mums fingers. Katrina says: SAVE the Koala September FACT 6. That little pink jelly bean grows quite rapidly inside mums pouch. At first, the teat swells so much that joey can’t even let go, but is drip fed mums precious milk 24/7. As joey grows and… Read More »Fact # 6 – Pouch
