Few people can remain indifferent when contemplating a charming animal that looks like a little bear. Although the Australian resident has nothing to do with them. Like many other inhabitants of Australia, the koala marsupial mammal. It was first described in 1798, when it was found in the Blue Mountains (Australia). Since then, the animal with a wide muzzle and small eyes, a curved nose, soft and silvery fur, and shaggy ears has been loved by many.

Koalas are descended from their closest relatives, wombats. They are similar to them, but differ in softer and thicker fur, their ears are slightly larger, and their limbs are longer.

The animal's sharp claws help it easily move along tree trunks; the shape and size of its limbs also contribute to this. The hands of the front paws have two thumbs, which are set to the side, with three more fingers located next to them. This design of the palms helps the animal to easily grasp branches and tree trunks and hold onto them tenaciously, and for young animals to hold on to their mother’s fur. The koala, clutching a branch, sleeps on a tree, and it can even be supported by one paw.

I wonder what papillary pattern, found on the fingertips of koalas, is very similar to human fingerprints, even an electron microscope would have difficulty detecting the differences.

The size of koalas is very diverse. For example, a female living in the north can weigh 5 kilograms, and a male living in the south can weigh 14 kilograms.

The photo shows a koala eating eucalyptus leaves.

Koalas eat only the bark and leaves of eucalyptus trees. There are more than 800 species of these trees in the world, but these animals only eat the bark and leaves of 120 of them. Interestingly, these trees are poisonous to most animals. Due to its unique digestive system colas eat them without tragic consequences. But the furry animals try to choose eucalyptus trees growing on fertile soils along river banks. The leaves and branches of such trees contain less poison. Eucalyptus trees growing on poor, dry soils contain more toxic substances.

The daily diet of this animal is 500–1100 g of food. At the same time, they mainly feed on softer and juicier young leaves. Koalas hardly drink water, since eucalyptus leaves contain more than 90% of the liquid they need. Animals drink water only when they lack moisture in the leaves or are sick.

The koala is almost motionless 18–20 hours a day. At this time, she clasps branches with her paws, sleeps or moves along the trunk in search of food, or chews leaves, which she puts in the inside of her cheeks during feeding.

She jumps from tree to tree mainly to find food or escape from danger. Another one unique ability This animal is that it can swim. Koalas are quite slow, this is due to their feeding habits, since the leaves contain little protein. In addition, koalas have a low metabolism, it is 2 times slower than that of other mammals.

Sometimes, to replenish the need for microelements, koalas eat soil.

Reproduction of koalas, birth of cubs

The breeding season for koalas is from October to February. At this time, they gather in groups that consist of several females and one adult male. The rest of the time, each female lives in her own territory and leads a solitary lifestyle.

Koalas are fairly quiet animals. Loud screams can only be heard during mating season. Eyewitnesses say that these sounds are similar to the grumbling of a pig, the creaking of door hinges and even the snoring of a drunken person. However, females really like these sounds, and they respond favorably to the calling sound of males.

Another unique one distinctive feature The difference between these marsupial cubs and other animals lies in the reproductive organs. The male has a forked penis, and the female has two vaginas. Thus, nature made sure that this species did not become extinct.

Pregnancy in koalas lasts 30–35 days. Most often, only one calf is born, which weighs 5.5 grams and has a height of 15–18 millimeters. Although there are also cases of two births. The baby stays in its mother’s pouch for six months, during which time it feeds on her milk. Over the next six months, he gets out of the pouch, tenaciously clings to the mother’s fur on her stomach and back, thereby “traveling” through her body.

For the next 30 weeks, he eats semi-liquid maternal excrement, consisting of a pulp of half-digested eucalyptus leaves. Here are microorganisms that are valuable for the baby and necessary for his digestive process. After a month, the cubs become independent, but are still with their mother until they are 2–3 years old.

IN puberty males enter at 3–4 years, and females at 2–3. They reproduce once every 1 or 2 years. Life expectancy is 11–12 years, although there may be exceptions; there are cases where koalas lived for 20 years.

IN wildlife The marsupial has no enemies, most likely because its meat smells like eucalyptus. Animals are tamed quite quickly, they are condescending towards the person who takes them in their arms. But at the same time, we must not forget about the sharp claws of the animal, so you need to stroke it carefully.

A koala can be like a child; when the animal is left alone, it can cry and yearn. In the wild, drought, fires, and poachers are destroying these touching animals. Cutting down eucalyptus trees also contributes to their destruction.

Koalas are mammals, marsupials. Live in natural environment wild only in Australia and Tasmania (like many other marsupials). They resemble bears only in appearance. The lifestyle of koalas is completely different.

Animal life has been studied by scientists since the 19th century. Previously, this animal was unknown to science.

Quote from the site " Amazing world Australia":

“Koala packs were known to science and society only in 1802, and a year later the first living animal of this breed was caught.
Its “official” scientific name Koalas got their name back in 1816, when they were given the name Phascolarctos – from the Greek phaskolos “skin bag” + arktos “bear”.
Koalas got their specific name, cinereus (gray, ashy), thanks to the color of their fur.”

Koalas lead exclusively night look life. At night, these cute lumps doze on comfortable beds made of eucalyptus branches. Of course, beds in trees. Well, it’s not far from the dining room

In the language of indigenous Australians, the word "koala" means "never drinking water" Indeed, these amazing bears obtain almost all the liquid they need for life from eucalyptus leaves.

They, unlike bears, do not eat meat at all and feed exclusively on eucalyptus leaves, and in different time of the year - different types this type of tree. This is because many varieties of eucalyptus emit poisonous substances at some point in time. chemical compounds. This is mainly hydrocyanic acid, which, when released into the blood, affects the respiratory system. Also, koalas are not like bears because they lead almost completely wood image life and descend from their abode only to climb another tree.

Koalas' feet are excellent for climbing and clinging.
Their big and index fingers are opposed to all the others - it is more convenient to grasp the branches.

Koalas also have a tail, it’s just so tiny that it’s almost unnoticeable.

The fur of these animals is soft and thick, its color depends on the area where the koala lives, and can be gray, reddish and even reddish. It is always lighter on the belly than on the back.

One of the most prominent parts of a koala's body is its claws. They are so powerful and strong that, having stuck them into a tree, the koala does not fall down, even when he is fast asleep.

And they sleep often and for a long time, up to 20 hours a day. Koalas are generally very phlegmatic animals: during the day, even if they do not sleep, they sit motionless, clinging to a tree and only turning their heads from side to side. Often the baby sits on the female’s back, as calm as its mother.

Adult males have their own harems (groups of females). IN summer period time, approximately once every two years a female koala gives birth to a single baby.

A newborn cub reaches approximately 2 cm and weighs 5 grams. For half a year the bear cub sits in its mother’s bag. At 7-8 months, the baby begins to gradually get out of his mother’s bag and explore the world, and at 9 months he leaves his shelter and moves to his mother’s back, where he will spend about another year.

The average lifespan of an animal is about 13 years, although there are individuals that live up to 18 years. The female often lives longer than the male. Koalas easily get used to captivity if it is an Australian reserve. However, they only need eucalyptus, so they reproduce well in state protected parks.

The number of koalas was declining alarmingly quickly due to mass hunting. Koala hunting is now prohibited. The number of these wonderful bears is slowly but increasing.

Interesting thing: koalas have fingerprints similar to humans.

We invite you to look at photographs of these wonderful animals.

Sometimes I can’t believe that these funny animals really live in the wild. I just want to take the koala in my arms. take it home, wrap it in a blanket and cradle it like a baby :))

Thick fur makes the animal look like a teddy bear. Interestingly, the color of the fur depends on where the koala lives.
Possible fur colors: smoky gray, bright and light red, almost red.

Interestingly, koalas do not drink water at all.

On the soft pads of koala fingers, if you look closely, you can see a pattern identical to a human print.

Koalas can also boast of their claws, which are so strong that they can withstand the weight of the animal.

There are no claws on the big toes of the koala's hind legs.

Koala pregnancy lasts only 1 month.

After birth, the baby lives in the mother’s pouch for six months and feeds on milk.

Then, when the baby moves onto his mother’s back, he eats special feces (excrement) so that the baby receives the necessary microorganisms for good digestion.

Koalas sleep 18-22 hours a day. Still would! They get so tired digesting their heavy food...

Koalas are under the close attention of the World Wildlife Fund.

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF, - World Wide Fund for Nature, World Wildlife Fund) is one of the world's largest public charitable organizations, working for more than 50 years to protect nature around the planet. Every year WWF carries out over 1200 environmental projects, attracting the attention of millions of people to the problems of protection environment and their solution.

Koalas are usually silent. They make sounds only in times of danger. Frightened or injured koalas scream and cry like human children.

Here's another interesting fact:

The size of these amazing animals can vary (as well as the color of the fur) depending on the territory in which the individual lives. Thus, the largest individuals live in the state of Victoria, and the smallest of the koalas live in Queensland.

The story of a baby koala named Raymond

Not long ago, not far from the Australian town of Brisbane, an orphaned baby koala was discovered right on the road. Of course, the man who found him could not leave the baby to die in the middle of the road.

He was so small that he easily fit into a coffee mug, and even now, a month later, he had grown only a little. His nurse and guardian Julie Zyzniewski gave the baby the nickname Raymond.

Baby koalas, forced to be separated from their mothers in such early age, suffer madly and even fall into real depression, refusing the milk offered to them. But Julia managed to feed and warm the baby with her care and affection. He began to eat and get better. In a couple of weeks he gained as much as 65 grams!!!

Koala animal

Koala is a rather cute furry animal that lives on the Australian continent. The second name of this type of animal is “ marsupial bear " Although, in fact, these animals have nothing to do with bears. The species of koalas is rather more similar to wombats.

The name of this animal species comes from an Australian Aboriginal expression, which can be literally translated as “does not drink.” This name did not happen by chance.

Koalas really do not consume water, and they take the moisture necessary for their bodies from the leaves of eucalyptus trees, which are their main food. The thing is that koalas live on eucalyptus trees and rarely descend from them to the ground. These small animals are one of the laziest on the planet, so getting to a source of water is a big problem for them.

About a hundred years ago, the koala family suffered significant damage, being at that time on the verge of complete extinction. And this was the fault of the people who needed the expensive and soft fur of these animals. Today, koalas are especially protected; their extermination for fur has been completely eliminated. In addition, koalas are bred in nature reserves and zoos, restoring the size of the family.

However, seeing a koala in wild conditions- great luck. Since the animals are under special care, they try to keep them in special reserves or nurseries, taking care of their health and reproduction. Koalas can be seen in the wild on Kangaroo Island in the southern part of the Australian continent.

Koala bear

Koala body size usually small - from sixty to eighty centimeters, and they weigh on average from six to 15 kilograms. Koalas are practically devoid of a tail; they have it very small, and it is almost invisible behind the lush fur of the animal.

The animal is distinguished by funny rounded ears, which are completely covered with a fur shell. Koala fur is soft and quite thick, and has good durability. Animals can be different in color, but basically their fur is colored in shades gray. Animals with red or red-red fur are less common.

Koalas are fairly quiet animals, so their voices can only be heard during certain periods. There are two of them - either the breeding season or the approach of the enemy. If a koala is frightened or injured, its cry will resemble the prolonged cry of a baby.

Life of a koala

Koalas lead a leisurely and measured lifestyle, almost never leaving their main shelter - a eucalyptus tree. Koalas sleep almost the entire day (from 18 to 22 hours). The koala's activity occurs at night and does not last long. Basically, it is associated with the need to find food.

During periods of wakefulness, koalas hardly move, but simply sit on the branches of a tree, holding on to its trunk with the help of their forelimbs. If necessary, the koala can show enviable lightness and grace, deftly jumping from one tree (where the food has run out) to another. In addition, these animals are able to swim well.

Koala photo

The lazy lifestyle of the koala is by no means accidental. Their diet includes only leaves and shoots of eucalyptus trees, which contain almost no protein. Moreover, eucalyptus leaves turn out to be deadly for most animals due to large quantity phenolic compounds.

When choosing a tree, koalas feel which one has the least poison and feed on it. There are about eight hundred species of eucalyptus trees in the world, but koalas choose only 120 of them for their food. When there is a serious lack of vitamins and minerals, koalas descend to the ground and eat it to restore the balance of trace elements in their bodies.

Now koalas live only in Australia - and not everywhere, but only in the southeastern part of the continent. Outwardly, they resemble small bear cubs: sedentary with thick short hair of a smoky gray or reddish color, small round, blind eyes, a flattened oval nose, a short tail and large, widely spaced ears with long hair at the edges.

Nowadays, koalas are one of the symbols of Australia, but once upon a time European settlers quickly pushed them out of Australia and at the same time almost destroyed them because of the rare beauty of their soft coat with three-centimeter fur. But these animals appeared on the mainland more than 30 million years ago, and according to the beliefs of the local aborigines, they were also once people.

How the animal appeared: the Aboriginal version

Old legends of local aborigines tell about an orphan boy, Kub-Bor (Marsupial Bear), who, although raised by his closest relatives, did not like him very much, and therefore was constantly offended. The boy was taught to survive in the forest and get food. Therefore, he had no problems with food, but with water it was difficult, since Kur-Bor was constantly thirsty.

When one day all the adults went to hunt and gather food, forgetting to hide the buckets of water, a child saw them and gradually drank all the contents, leaving the tribe without water. After that, he climbed onto the eucalyptus and began to monotonously sing a song, from which the tree, on the top of which he was sitting, began to grow extremely quickly, and by evening it turned out to be the largest in the entire forest. And then the Daens (aboriginals) returned.

They found no water, but found a child hidden in a huge eucalyptus tree. At first they could not reach Kur-Bora, because the branches of the huge tree were extremely high. But then two of them managed to climb the tree. The boy was grabbed by them, beaten right at the top of the tree, and thrown down.

Naturally, Kur-Bor crashed to his death. But when the natives approached him, they saw that the boy gradually began to turn into a koala. Having completed the transformation, the animal came to life, rushed to the eucalyptus tree and climbed up.

The last words the Daen heard from the koala were that if he and others like him were killed in order to eat, they would only need to cook him whole. If anyone disobeys, its spirit will come out of the carcass of a killed animal and severely punish the offenders - such a drought will come that neither people nor animals will be able to survive it. Only koalas will survive, for which the moisture contained in eucalyptus leaves will be sufficient.

The koalas themselves, according to the beliefs of the aborigines, have not drunk water since then. Their ancestor, being a man, drank plenty of it. This belief arose for one simple reason: almost no one had ever seen these animals at a watering hole before.

Scientists' version

It is believed that the koala family appeared more than 30 million years ago, and consisted of at least eighteen species (some of which were thirty times larger than koalas). As for “modern” animals, they are much younger. Their age is only 15 million years.

Europeans discovered this animal at the beginning of the 19th century. These were the remains of a koala found among the natives. Officer Barralier discovered them, preserved them in alcohol and sent them to the Governor of New South Wales. And a year later, the animal itself was caught near Sydney.

At first, koalas were found only in the southeast of Australia, as well as in the south of the continent (but they were quickly exterminated there at the beginning of the 20th century in pursuit of profit). It is believed that these animals also lived in the west of the continent, as evidenced by the remains found there.

Characteristics of the species

Scientists still have not been able to clearly determine what species of animal the animal living in Australia belongs to. At first they thought it was a panda or a bear, then they decided that its relative was a wombat, a kangaroo or an opossum (all of them, like the koala, are herbivorous marsupials). But if the relationship does exist, then researchers have not yet been able to trace their roots.

Features of the animal

The koala itself is not a large animal. The weight of a large male from the southern part of the continent is about fifteen kilograms, a female from the north is ten kilograms less. Average length an adult koala is about eighty centimeters.

The marsupial sleeps in trees approximately twenty hours a day. It is active at night, climbing the tops in search of leaves. During the day, even if the animal is awake, it sits motionless or sleeps, hugging the eucalyptus with its paws.

The animal has interesting characteristics, distinguishing it from other animals, because of which it was classified as a separate species.

Paws

The koala's paws are ideal for climbing trees and allow an adult to easily grab tree branches and a baby to hold on to its mother's back. The animal sleeps only on the eucalyptus, tightly grasping the tree with its paws:

• The koala has two grasping fingers on its front paws, located slightly apart from the rest;
• The other three fingers are located along the hand;
• All fingers on the forelimbs have extremely strong claws;
• The big toe on the koala's foot does not have a claw (unlike the other four).
• All of the koala's fingers have fingerprints that are extremely human-like.

Teeth

The animal's teeth are designed to chew grass. That’s why their incisors are like razors and can quickly cut leaves. The remaining teeth are grinding, separated from the incisors by a wide gap.

Intelligence and acumen

Alas, modern koalas are stupid. If the brain of their ancestors completely filled the cranial cavity, then in the animals that have survived to this day, it is much smaller. According to one theory, this happened due to the fact that koalas feed mainly only on eucalyptus leaves and shoots, which contain an extremely low level of energy.

Therefore, the brain of modern koalas makes up only 1.2% of their total weight, and forty percent of the cranial cavity is filled with cerebrospinal fluid. Lack of intelligence negatively affects the lives of the animals themselves. For example, accustomed to seeking salvation in trees, they do not always consider it necessary to get down from them and escape from the fire. Instead, they only press closer to the eucalyptus trees.

Character

The koala is an extremely calm animal. He sleeps from 18 to 20 hours a day, the rest of the time he devotes to eating. The koala lives in a tree, and mainly descends to the ground only to move to another eucalyptus tree, which it is not able to jump to in the air.

They jump from eucalyptus to eucalyptus extremely easily and confidently. If they decide to flee, they are even able to break into a fairly brisk gallop in order to climb the nearest tree.

Nutrition

As for the slowness of the koala not in emergency conditions, this is primarily due to its diet. It feeds only on shoots and leaves of the eucalyptus tree. The koala's metabolism is two times slower than that of other mammals (except wombats and sloths) - this feature compensates for the lack of nutritional value eucalyptus leaves.

The question of why koalas prefer eucalyptus leaves puzzles many. Because eucalyptus leaves are not only fibrous and low in protein, but they also contain phenolic and terpene compounds and even hydrocyanic acid, which are extremely poisonous to almost all living organisms.

As for koalas, then deadly poisons that enter the blood from the intestinal tract are completely neutralized by the liver. The animals have a very long cecum - almost two and a half meters (in humans - no more than eight centimeters). It is in it that it is digested poisonous food. In the intestines of koalas there are many bacteria that process leaves into compounds digestible for the koala.

The animal eats about one kilogram of leaves per day, crushing and chewing them very carefully. And what’s interesting is that the resulting mass is stored in the cheek pouches.

Koalas do not eat leaves from every tree: their extremely good sense of smell allows them to choose only those plants with fewer toxic compounds. Therefore, out of eight hundred species of eucalyptus, koalas eat only one hundred and twenty. And then, when their nose tells them that the food has become too poisonous, they go to look for another eucalyptus suitable for themselves (if the koalas did not have the opportunity to change the tree in time, they often became victims of poisoning).

They give preference to trees that grow on fertile soil - they are less poisonous. To compensate for the lack of minerals in the body, animals sometimes eat soil.

Eucalyptus leaves are also a source of moisture for the koala. They drink water mainly during droughts or when they are sick. In Australia in Lately More and more often, these animals are found near their pools when they come to drink water.

Temperature

Koalas have no layer subcutaneous fat, able to protect them from the cold. Firstly, if the temperature is too low, their fur helps them out (their fur is water-repellent), and secondly, in order to retain heat, their blood circulation, like that of humans, slows down.

Communication

Koalas are considered almost the most defenseless and harmless animals in the world. They don’t attack anyone and have absolutely no idea how to defend themselves. If you hurt them, at best they will run away; most likely they will not hit or bite back.

But this animal can cry. And he can cry as long as the pain causes him inconvenience. And the koala cries like a child - loudly, tremblingly and hysterically. The same sound can also symbolize the presence of danger.

Koalas are surprisingly silent. Since they live quite far from each other, they use a fairly wide range of sounds to communicate with their own kind.

Males in order to show their social and physical position, grunt in a peculiar way, and thus find out which of them is cooler (they are not going to waste strength and energy on fights, and if this happens, it is quite rare). Females scream much less often, but sometimes they are able to express aggression with roars and grunts, and also use this sound to express sexual behavior. But mothers and their cubs do not roar - they make quiet, quiet sounds, reminiscent of clicking (to “talk to each other”) or grumbling (if they are dissatisfied or irritated with something).

Cries during mating season

When the mating season begins, the males make a calling sound so loud that it can be heard a kilometer away. Interestingly, this sound is extremely loud and at the same time at a low frequency, which is not typical for small animals the size of a koala. They manage to publish it only with the help vocal cords that are located behind the larynx.

The female chooses a groom for herself based on these calling calls (in any case, preference is given to larger individuals). Despite the fact that the male’s songs remind us of the snoring of a drunkard, the angry grumbling of a pig or the creaking of rusty hinges, females extremely like such sounds and attract them.

The better the koala screams, the more brides he will gather, since there are significantly more females than males. In one season, one male can have about five wives.

Offspring

Koalas breed once every one to two years. Females start a family at the age of two, males at the age of three to four years.

The mother carries the baby for thirty to thirty-five days. Usually only one baby is born; twins are extremely rare. The length of a small koala is from 15 to 18 mm, weight is about five grams, while it is hairless and completely blind. Immediately after birth, the baby climbs into the mother's pouch, where he spends the next six months. To prevent the baby from getting hurt and falling out, the “entrance” to the pouch is located not at the top, like in a kangaroo, but at the bottom.

At first he feeds on mother's milk. She gets used to it gradually, and the transitional food is quite original: the mother regularly excretes special feces in the form of a liquid porridge from semi-digested eucalyptus leaves. The baby needs such food because it is the only opportunity to get the microflora he needs, since bacteria live in the mother’s intestines that help the body cope with food that is indigestible for the baby’s stomach.

True, this diet does not last long; after a month he begins to feed on the leaves themselves, and at the age of seven months he moves from the pouch to his mother’s back. The grown koala finally leaves its mother's embrace at one year. But not all of them leave: while young females go to look for sites for themselves, males quite often remain to live with their mother for up to three years.

Dangers

Typically, a koala lives from eight to thirteen years (although in captivity there have been cases where animals lived to be twenty). Their number for some time (until the Australian authorities began to solve this problem) was declining very quickly. If at the beginning of the 20th century the number of koalas was 10 million individuals, then after a hundred there were only 100 thousand left, most of which live in private territories. According to various sources, only 2 to 8 thousand of them live in the wild.

In nature, koalas have practically no enemies - apparently, the animal, imbued with the eucalyptus aroma, scares away enemies with its smell. Only people eat them, and wild dingoes can attack animals, but this is also a rare occurrence, because koalas rarely go down, and dogs do not jump in trees.

Just recently, these animals were on the verge of extinction. The main reason is human activity, as well as their extreme propensity to various diseases.

Diseases

Koalas are quite sickly animals - apparently, the monotonous diet affects them. They are especially susceptible to cystitis, periostitis of the skull, and conjunctivitis. Sinusitis often causes pneumonia in them, which greatly reduced the population at the beginning of the last century.

The animals are also killed by the viral bacteria Chlamydia Psittaci, which is secretly considered to be the “AIDS” of koalas. They affect the ureter and eyes of animals, and if they are not helped in time, the disease will first lead to infertility, then to vision problems, and ultimately to death.

Fur traders

Even before the beginning of the 20th century, a huge number of koalas (more than one million) were destroyed by fur traders, after which there were almost no animals left. And only then (in 1927) the Australian government banned the trade in koala fur, and three years later – the import of their skins. This led to the end of the barbaric extermination of koalas, and their population began to gradually increase.

Deforestation

Due to continuous deforestation, koalas are forced to constantly go in search of new trees, so they have to go down. But they are not accustomed to life on earth, since they move here with difficulty, so they become easy prey.

Cars

Due to deforestation, koalas are increasingly finding themselves on highways in search of a new home. Cars rushing at high speed frighten them extremely, the animals become numb (the so-called “koala syndrome” - males are especially susceptible to it) and stop moving or begin to rush along the road. According to statistics, about 200 koalas end up under the wheels of cars every month - and, unfortunately, many of them die.

At the same time, the authorities are trying to solve this problem quite in an interesting way: artificial vines are stretched over the route, which connect the eucalyptus trees on both sides of the route. The koalas appreciated this idea and willingly cross the highway.

Dogs

Once on the ground and seeing a wild dingo, the koala does not understand the danger and does not run away into a tree. As a result, she often ends up torn to pieces.

Fires

The trees where koalas love to live contain eucalyptus oil, thanks to which fires flare up extremely strongly and cannot be extinguished for a long time. The fire has completely destroyed more than one koala population.

Swimming pools

Many people will be surprised to learn how many koalas die after getting into the pool. Contrary to the popular belief that they drink absolutely nothing, they still come to a watering hole, but often not to the source, but to the structure created by human hands, which does not have the usual descents for animals. Despite the fact that they are excellent swimmers, koalas often drown when exhausted.

Drought

Due to drought, eucalyptus leaves turn black and dry out, so koalas deprived of water often die of thirst, especially those who live far from artificial or natural sources water.

Animal rescue

If it were for the inactive activities of animal activists, we would only know about the koala from schematic drawings in their textbooks. They managed not only to push through several laws to protect these animals, but also to win over patrons who are willing to donate money to save the “teddy bears.”

In Australia, parks and reserves were created, special hospitals for these animals were organized with the latest equipment and highly qualified veterinarians.

This is not much, but it helps - about 4 thousand animals are saved per year. About twenty percent of animals that fall into the hands of doctors survive.

Life in captivity

As already mentioned, most koalas live on private property, the owners of which have nothing against such a neighborhood. People are often captivated by the appearance of these cute fluffy animals that look like teddy bears, and they tame them. Koalas, although they like to be alone, are extremely friendly. They become attached very quickly, and if the person they are accustomed to leaves somewhere, the animal cries. If you pester them too much, koalas can begin to defend themselves with their teeth and nails.

Keeping a koala at home is not easy - those who want to have this animal will be required to provide it with at least one kilogram of fresh eucalyptus leaves per day, which is quite difficult. For example, in Russia these trees grow only in Sochi, but this type of eucalyptus is absolutely not suitable for koalas.

And although this furry animal is often called a bear cub, in fact it has nothing to do with bears.

James Cook did not notice koalas during his famous voyage to the shores of Australia. Europeans did not suspect the existence of furry marsupial bears until 1798, when a certain Price saw animals similar to South American sloths in the Blue Mountains. The locals called them kullawain. After this meeting, the fluffy cuties caught people's eyes more and more often.

Like most animals in Australia, koalas are very original. By the way, in the language of the tribes of New South Wales, their name translates as “not to drink.” And they really don't drink. And this is not their only feature.

Koalas are small, dense animals. Their height ranges from 60 to 82 cm, and their weight ranges from 5 to 16 kg. Their head is large, with a flat “face”, their eyes are small and widely spaced, their ears are large, rounded and furry, always alert and listening.

Koalas' paws are perfectly adapted for climbing and clinging; the thumb and forefinger are opposed to all the others - it is more convenient to grasp branches. These animals are among the few non-primates that have papillary patterns on their fingertips, the prints of which are not much different from those of humans. They have a tail, but it is so small that it is almost invisible.

The fur of these animals is soft and thick, its color depends on the area where the koala lives, and can be gray, reddish and even reddish. It is always lighter on the belly than on the back.

One of the most prominent parts of a koala's body is its claws. They are so powerful and strong that, having stuck them into a tree, the koala does not fall down, even when he is fast asleep. And they sleep often and for a long time, up to 20 hours a day. Koalas are generally very phlegmatic animals: during the day, even if they do not sleep, they sit motionless, clinging to a tree and only turning their heads from side to side. Often the baby sits on the female’s back, as calm as its mother.

Koalas come to life at night, then climb branches in search of food. They go down to the ground very rarely, mainly when they need to move from one tree to another, and it’s a long distance to jump over. By the way, these animals can jump quite well, and in especially dangerous cases they can even run away at a heavy gallop. And they know how to swim.

Koalas feed on eucalyptus leaves; the moisture they need is obtained from these same leaves, as well as from the dew that accumulates on them. Drinking marsupial bears only when they are sick and during periods of severe drought.

Koalas do not eat anything other than eucalyptus leaves. This explains their slowness. Such food contains very little protein, which is why the metabolic rate of these furry animals is almost two times lower than that of most other mammals. A koala eats an average of a kilogram of leaves per day.

Now comes the fun part. Eucalyptus leaves, so beloved by koalas, contain a lot of phenolic and terpene compounds, which are poisonous to most animals. And the shoots may also contain hydrocyanic acid.

Koalas are somehow able to identify those types of eucalyptus trees that contain less toxic substances. Therefore, animals use only a small part of the entire diversity of these trees for food.

Koalas are avid loners. Females each live in their own area, and males, although they do not adhere to territorial boundaries, are even less eager to communicate with each other, and if they suddenly meet, they use their claws.

Koalas gather in small groups only during the mating season. Since fewer males are born, a harem of 2-3 females often gathers around a representative of the stronger sex. At this time, you can often hear the gentleman’s calling cry, similar to “something between the snoring of a fat drunkard, the creaking of a door on rusty hinges and the grumbling of a dissatisfied pig.” But “to someone’s furry ears it’s wonderful music, because it’s a koala’s love song.” True, this singer is a bad family man - he leaves his wife soon after the birth of an heir.

Pregnancy in koalas lasts a month, usually one baby is born, about 15-18 mm long and weighing only 5.5 g. The baby lives for six months in the mother’s pouch, feeding on her milk. Then he gradually begins to move onto her back. At this time, the baby begins to receive strange food from his mother - special feces, not at all like ordinary excrement, but similar to a paste of semi-digested eucalyptus leaves. With the help of this special food, which the female secretes for about a month, digestive tract The baby receives microorganisms necessary for digestion.

Up to a year, the mother carries the grown baby on her back, and during sleep or bad weather hugs him tightly. Around the age of one year, daughters go in search of personal plots, and sons can remain with their mother until they are 2-3 years old.

This cute beast has almost no enemies, but in the first half of the 20th century. Koalas were almost wiped out due to the high demand for their fluffy coats. When the authorities finally came to their senses and banned the hunting of marsupial bear cubs, there were so few of them left that one of the ways to save this unique look was the capture of surviving koalas and breeding them in captivity. This is how the first koala parks appeared. Nowadays, these animals are doing better, but they are still not as common as, for example, kangaroos.

By the way, koalas are easily tamed. Babies living in captivity love to sleep in human arms. Adult bears also become very attached to those who care for them, and at times behave like real spoiled children - they “cry” when their owners are busy, and calm down if they are picked up.