10 interesting facts about koalas – cute marsupials

Many of us have known about koalas living in Australia since childhood from books and programs about animals. Koalas are not bears, although they proudly bear the name “marsupial bear“. From Latin koala translates as “ashen”, which corresponds to the color of the coat.

The animal prefers to live in Australian eucalyptus forests, eating the leaves of the plant – eucalyptus is poisonous to humans, but not to koalas. Due to the fact that the marsupial animal consumes eucalyptus leaves, the koala is not someone’s enemy in the animal kingdom, as poisonous substances accumulate in its body.

The sweetest thing that each of us probably pays attention to is the baby koala – after birth, he remains for some time in his mother’s bag (6-7 months), eating her milk. In addition, a lot can be said about a bizarre animal. If you love animals and are happy to learn something new about them, we suggest you read about 10 interesting facts about koalas!

10 Koalas are not bears

In appearance, the koala really resembles a bear, however the animal is neither a panda nor a bear. Koala is a representative of a large group of marsupials, their cubs are born prematurely, and subsequently hatch in a bag – a leather fold or on the mother’s belly.

Other marsupials are considered close relatives of koalas, by the way, there are not so many of them left on our planet – about 250 species, mostly they all live in Australia. Koala itself – this animal does not belong to any species.

9. Live only in Australia

Such cute and beautiful little animals like koalas, live in Australia, mainly in its western part, in eucalyptus forests. They prefer to climb trees, and they do it very skillfully.

A humid climate and palm trees (or eucalyptus trees) are important for a marsupial animal, on which a koala can sit and chew leaves for a long time. The forest provides food for the herbivore. Speaking of nutrition, the koala is very selective in this matter, and will not eat anything, but prefers only eucalyptus.

8. Wombats relatives

Today wombats are considered the largest among mammals, these animals are relatives of koalas. Because of their fur and cute muzzle, wombats look like soft toys and at the same time they look like pigs. Wombats spend most of their lives in burrows, resting in them during the day, prefer to be nocturnal.

By the way, their underground dwelling cannot be called just burrows – wombats build entire settlements, where tunnels and streets are included. Wombats deftly move along the built labyrinths with their families.

Wombats, like koalas, live in Australia, they can also be found in Tasmania. Today there are only 2 types of wombats left: long-haired and short-haired.

7. Got fingerprints

We all know about human and monkey matches, human and pig, etc., but you may not have heard of human and koala matches before. Now you will know that Australian resident and human similar fingerprints. Each animal has its own unique pattern on “sole of the hand».

These cute marsupials are somewhat similar to humans – of course, they lag behind in terms of intelligence, and we have different food preferences. However, fingerprints are what unites us. If you look at them under a microscope, you will not find any differences … Moreover, in 1996, thanks to this discovery, scientists suggested that vortices and lines increase the tenacity of the limbs.

6. Motionless for most of the day

Most of the day, the inhabitants of Australia – koalas, are motionless. During the day they sleep about 16 hours, and even if they do not, they prefer to sit still and look around.

The main thing when they sleep is that no one shakes the tree and the wind blows, if this happens, the koala will fall from the tree, and the consequences can be sad. Sitting still, in this way the animal conserves its energy – this allows it to digest food, given that this takes a long time.

Interesting fact: when meeting a person, the koala shows friendliness – it lends itself perfectly to training, in captivity the animal is very attached to those who care for it, and becomes capricious. If they leave, they begin to “cry”, and calm down when you return to them and are near.

5. When frightened, they make a sound similar to the crying of a child

It’s better not to scare the koala again, because it’s amazing and cute the animal makes a sound that resembles the cry of a small child… He can’t leave anyone indifferent. A wounded or frightened koala cries, but usually this animal does not make any sounds, most of the time it prefers to be silent.

At the age of a year, a koala can begin to lead an independent life, but if her mother leaves her before that, the animal will cry, because it is very attached to her.

Interesting fact: there is a video on the network in which a koala squeaks loudly and cries, it seems that the animal is shedding tears of bitterness. The incident that touched the entire Internet occurred in Australia – a male threw a small koala from a tree and even bit it a little. We don’t know why he did it, but the poor baby burst into tears. Interestingly, only males roar loudly.

4. Pregnancy lasts one month

Pregnancy of a koala lasts no more than 30-35 days. Only one cub is born into the world – at birth it has a body weight of 5,5 g, and a length of only 15-18 mm. More often females are born than males. It happens that twins appear, but this is rare.

The cub stays in the mother’s bag for six months, feeding on milk, and when this time passes, it “travels” on her back or stomach for another six months, clutching her fur with its claws.

3. In Australia, creepers are stretched for them

Conservationists in Australia are working to save koalas. In order to prevent the death of these beautiful animals under the wheels, the Conservation Organization came up with an interesting idea.

For traffic safety, artificial vines made of ropes were stretched over the roads in some places – animals move in this way from one tree to another and do not interfere with local residents to move. Stopping traffic on the highway due to moving koalas is not uncommon in Australia.

2. They feed on poisonous leaves

You already know that koalas spend a lot of time sleeping, the rest they have is spent on food, namely consumption of shoots and leaves of poisonous eucalyptus. In addition, the leaves are also very hard. Bacteria help koalas digest them.

After receiving mother’s milk, koalas do not yet have the necessary bacteria in the body, so at first the babies feed on their mother’s droppings. Thus, they receive semi-digested eucalyptus leaves and microbiota – in the intestines, it takes root not immediately, but gradually.

1. Very poor eyesight

Cute koalas have very poor eyesight: -10, that is, animals see almost nothing, the image in front of them is completely blurred. The koala does not need clear and colored vision – the animal sleeps during the day and feeds at night.

The koala can only distinguish 3 colors: brown, green and black. Poor eyesight is compensated by an excellent sense of smell and developed hearing.