What do koalas bears eat

Koalas are listed as vulnerable by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, which has named the species one of 10 animals most vulnerable to climate change. Increasing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is decreasing the nutritional quality of eucalyptus leaves which is already quite low and causing longer, more intense droughts and wildfires.

In response to drought, koalas are forced to stop napping and come down from the trees to find water , spending precious energy and putting them at a higher risk of predation. Predators include dingoes and large owls. Chlamydia is widespread in some koala populations and can cause blindness, infertility, and sometimes death.

Koalas lost substantial portions of their habitat in the bushfire season and have been identified by the Australian government as one of animals requiring urgent help.

Wildlife hospitals, rescue organizations, zoos, and volunteers have stepped up to care for injured koalas, with the goal of rehabilitating and releasing them back into the wild. Though there are some koala sanctuaries and reserves, many live on private, unprotected land. There are conservation efforts by the Australia Zoo and others to buy large tracts of land to set aside for koalas, and state governments are also creating new koala reserves.

Campaigns urging landowners not to cut down eucalyptus trees are also ongoing. Research is another important component of conservation efforts. All rights reserved. Common Name: Koala. Scientific Name: Phascolarctos cinereus. Type: Mammals. Diet: Herbivore. This is why eucalyptus oil is found in many insect repellant lotions and sprays.

Aside from insects they can be lethal to larger animals like dogs, cats, and horses among many others. To process their unique diet, koalas have a specially adapted kind of digestive system. It also aids in detoxifying the leaves. The pap is a specialized form of droppings or some consider feces, which allow baby koalas to transition from milk to eucalyptus leaves.

It gives them the natural defenses that will allow them to eat these toxic leaves. Since eucalyptus leaves are incredibly fibrous, koalas spend most of their days chewing.

Their teeth, like their digestive system, are adapted to their unique diet. For instance, sharp front incisors help koalas cut the leaves off of trees and branches. Their back teeth, on the other hand, are shaped in such a way that allows them to cut the leaves into tiny parts instead of just crushing them. As well, to almost all other animals they are poisonous. However, koalas are especially adapted to eat this diet. They have a special part in their intestine, called a caecum pronounced see-kum , which goes off from their main intestine and has a blind end.

It is very long and broader than the rest of the intestine and contains millions of micro-organisms tiny organisms that break down the gumleaves so they are easier to absorb. There is water in the gumleaves, too, so that koalas rarely need to drink.

Koala teeth are especially adapted for their gumleaf diet. Their sharp front teeth nip the leaves from the tree and their back teeth are shaped for cutting and grinding the leaves to extract the most nourishment. An adult koala eats between to grams of leaves each day. Koalas eat mainly eucalyptus leaves gum leaves. Occasionally they will eat the leaves from some other native Australian trees, and they also use certain trees just for resting in. Koalas live in tall open eucalypt gum tree forests.

Koalas can only live in bushland where their favourite trees are growing, and they will only eat a few of the hundreds of species of eucalypts which grow in Australia. Just as people in different countries like the kinds of foods they are accustomed to eating, koalas in different areas of Australia like to eat the leaves from different types of gum trees. Koalas are not bears, they are marsupials, although their scientific name will continue to confuse as it is almost impossible to change.

Topics: bear , honey , koala bear , koalas , marsupial. Koalas are marsupials and not bears. Public Domain Image, source: U.