Are Koalas endangered?

Koala

Koalas are a type of mammal called marsupials, which give birth to underdeveloped young.

Fact

Koalas are nocturnal marsupials famous for spending most of their lives asleep in trees. During the day they doze, tucked into forks or nooks in the trees, sleeping for up to 18 hours. This sedentary lifestyle can be attributed to the fact they have unusually small brains and survive on a diet of nutrient-poor leaves.

Koalas can only live in one place in the world, Australia. The koala only eats Eucalyptus leaves and it eats so many leaves, it smells like the leaves. The koala hops from tree to tree and climbs the trees to get the leaves. The koala will eat 2.5 pounds of food a day.

Diet

Fast Fact

Koala-on-koala violence is generally pretty mild, but they have been known to go after dogs and even humans.

Koala predators include: dingoes, owls, lizards, and people. Koalas sometime get run over by cars. They also die because people cut Eucalyptus trees.

Population Decline

Diet

Population

Behavior

Range & Habitat

Koala habitats range across Eastern and Southeastern Australia. They live along the eastern coastlines of New South Wales, South Australia, Victoria and Queensland. The area shaded orange on this map of Australia identifies much of koalas range. Koala live in bushland.

Estimates of koala populations have historically varied wildly. In 2016, scientists estimated there were over 300,000 koalas in Australia. In mid-2019, the Australian Koala Foundation estimated that fewer than 80,000 remained in the country, and said the number could be as low as 43,000.

Behaviour. Koalas can sleep for up to 20 hours a day, due to their low energy diet, and the intense amount of energy required to break down toxic leaves. Koalas are mostly active at night (nocturnal) and around dawn and dusk.

Diet. Koalas eat a variety of eucalypt leaves and a few other related tree species, including lophostemon, melaleuca and corymbia species (such as brush box, paperbark and bloodwood trees)

Food supply

Habitat

Koalas are herbivorous, and while most of their diet consists of eucalypt leaves, they can be found in trees of other genera, such as Acacia, Allocasuarina, Callitris, Leptospermum, and Melaleuca. Though the foliage of over 600 species of Eucalyptus is available, the koala shows a strong preference for around 30.

Koalas live in the eucalyptus forests of southeastern and eastern Australia. When not sleeping, they’re usually eating. They rely on the eucalyptus tree for both habitat and food. Koalas can eat more than a pound of eucalyptus leaves a day. Eucalyptus is toxic, so the koala’s digestive system has to work hard to digest it, breaking down the toxins and extracting limited nutrients.

Growth

Baby

Adolescent

Adult

Behavior

"Koala Mating Ritual"

Koalas are solitary animals living within a network of overlapping home ranges, which allows contact between individuals for mating. Males will try to establish dominance over the home ranges of a number of females during the mating season. These home ranges in southern and central Queensland vary in size from 1km to 135km, depending on the density of the population and the abundance of suitable food trees. In spring, adult males begin to call as a way of advertising their presence to surrounding koalas. Males will seek out a mate and fight with rival males to establish their dominance.

Bibliography

https://www.koalaexpress.com.au/facts1.htm

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/06/world/australia/great-koala-count.html#:~:text=Estimates%20of%20koala%20populations%20have,be%20as%20low%20as%2043%2C000.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVOQMjFw6ag

https://environment.des.qld.gov.au/wildlife/animals/living-with/koalas/facts#:~:text=in%20adult%20life.-,Behaviour,and%20around%20dawn%20and%20dusk.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/facts/koala#:~:text=Koalas%20live%20in%20the%20eucalyptus,of%20eucalyptus%20leaves%20a%20day.

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