By Obiabin Onukwugha
The koala, sometimes called koala bear, is an arboreal herbivorous marsupial animal. It is found in coastal areas of the mainland’s eastern and southern regions in Australia and parts of Africa.
It is easily recognisable by its stout, tailless body and large head with round, fluffy ears and large, dark nose.
The word “koala” is thought to originate from one of the Australian Aboriginal languages, Dharug, which roughly translates to ‘no drink’ or ‘no water’. This might explain why in the Australian bush, koalas rarely drink water as the majority of their water intake comes from eating fresh eucalyptus leaves.
Researchers note that Koalas are largely sedentary and sleep up to twenty hours a day. They are asocial animals, and bonding exists only between mothers and dependent offspring.
Adult males communicate with loud bellows that intimidate rivals and attract mates. Also male koalas mark their presence with secretions from scent glands located on their chests.
It is reported that being marsupials, koalas give birth to underdeveloped young that crawl into their mothers’ pouches, where they stay for the first six to seven months of their lives.
Koalas rely heavily on their sense of smell to make better food choices and detect other koalas’ scent markings on trees. They are notoriously selective feeders, using their prominent, leathery nose to differentiate toxin levels in eucalyptus leaves and choose the juiciest and most nutrient rich ones.
Their digestive system is particularly good at tolerating its toxic eucalyptus diet, which, even in small amounts, can often be poisonous and fatal to most animals when ingested.
Male koalas are said to live up to 12 years, whereas females can live for much longer, up to 15 years.
Even though koalas have no competition for eating eucalyptus, many other species live in the forests. By eating more than a pound of eucalyptus leaves every day, each koala helps control plant growth, balance the forest ecosystem and support forest life for insects and birds.
However, koalas are listed as vulnerable species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Among the many threats to their existence are habitat destruction caused by agriculture, urbanisation, droughts, and associated bushfires, some related to climate change.
In February 2022, the koala was officially listed as endangered in the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, and Queensland.
Why Koala Has a Stumpy Tail
It was told that long time ago Tree Kangaroo and Koala were very close, but their friendship soured after the events that transpired during a long drought in Australia.
According to the story, Tree Kangaroo was a hard worker and resourceful while Koala was lazy and selfish.
The drought was such that animals were dying of thirst so Tree Kangaroo came up with the idea of digging a hole for water in a dry streambed.
The Tree Kangaroo started to dig, but Koala kept making excuses about why he couldn’t help dig the hole.
Finally, Tree Kangaroo ended up digging the entire hole alone and when he finally finds water, he thought to rest a little from his hard work before coming to drink from his spring of water as he was tired and worn-out.
To his surprise, Tree Kangaroo returned to find out that Koala has jumped into the hole to drink all of the water.
With rage and anger at Koala’s selfish acts, Tree Kangaroo grabbed Koala by his long, furry tail and pulls so hard that it break off at the base.
Since then koala has been left with a short, stumpy tail.