subject: The Diet And Behavior Of Koalas [print this page] Koalas have a peculiar habit to rest motionless for about sixteen to eighteen hours daily. Most of the time that they stay motionless they are sleeping. Koalas are active only for about five hours daily and they spend more than half of this time feeding themselves. Koalas usually feed during the night but they might also decide to feed themselves during the day without a set timeframe as to when.
The most common food of choice of koalas is eucalypt leaves with all its varieties. An average koala will eat an average of half a kg of eucalypt leaves daily for its diet. Using its powerful teeth, the koalas make a very fine paste of the eucalypt leaves before swallowing them down their esophagus. Although the diet is low in nutrient levels, the digestive system of koalas acts in a way to extract the maximum amount of energy out of the leaves and store it in the liver.
Also, Koalas can be very cantankerous, arguing over petty things with each other and having an aggressive attitude towards each other to the point of biting each other. If keepers try to stop them from quarrelling amongst each other, very interestingly, this causes them stress. In short, koalas are a bunch of cantankerous, sensitive and cute animals, at least from the outset. Even more interesting is the fact that handling koalas has become a political issue in Australia.
The Australian government lists koalas as a species that tops their priority list, amongst other things, to be saved from extinction and taken very good care of.
According to an estimate by the Australian Koala Foundation, there are only about eighty thousand koalas left in Australia.
Since the koalas are on the verge of extinction and major efforts are being carried out to conserve them, it is forbidden by law in Australia to keep koalas as pets. Exceptions are researchers working on studies related to understanding koala behaviour and habits.
by: Nail Yener
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