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Top 10 facts about Koalas

Discover more about the Koala, the issues and threats they are facing, and what you can do to help.

1. Koala means ‘no drink’

The word "koala" is thought to originate from one of the Australian Aboriginal languages, Dharug, which roughly translates to ‘no drink’ or ‘no water’. And 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. Koalas drinking water is uncommon in the wild, although they can do so if necessary, especially during heat waves, droughts or bushfires.

2. They have a specialist diet comprising of poisonous leaves

Koalas are folivore specialists, feeding mainly on Eucalyptus leaves, and occasional leaves of other plant species. The koala’s 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.

Special liver enzymes and symbiotic gut bacteria help to break down poisonous compounds, thus allowing koalas to survive on a diet of eucalyptus leaves. They can eat up to a kilogram a day without even breaking a sweat!

3. They live in one of the driest continents in the world

70% of Australia is either arid or semi-arid land, since the continent receives so little rain. Hence, most of the country’s unique wildlife has had to adapt to living in dry environments, including koalas.

Koalas are endemic to Australia, where they can only be found in the southeast and eastern parts of the country, along the coastlines of Queensland, New South Wales, South Australia, and Victoria. They live in forests and open woodlands, typically dominated by eucalyptus tree species. In inland areas, koalas can be found living in eucalyptus woodlands close to water sources such as streams and creeks.

4. A Koala is the only surviving member of its family

There is only one species of Koala in the world. It is the only extant member of the family Phascolarctidae, whose closest living relatives are the common wombats. Their wild numbers are estimated to be around 300,000 mature individuals, but showing a declining population trend. Koalas are currently listed as vulnerable by the IUCN.

5. They share more common features with kangaroos than true bears

Koalas are often referred to as ’koala bears’, but this is a misnomer of the past as they are more closely related to kangaroos, bandicoots and possums than to true bears. Koalas are classed as marsupials, a different group of mammals, where females have a special pouch (front-facing or backwards facing) for rearing their young.

A female koala gives birth to live, under-developed offspring—also called joey—who instinctively climb inside its mother’s pouch to finish development. In contrast, true bears are placental mammals, meaning the embryo development and nourishment happens via a placenta, allowing for a longer developmental period within the protection of the womb.

6. They don’t live in social groups

Koalas are mostly asocial marsupials, preferring a solitary lifestyle in the wild. Once young joeys become fully mature, they usually seek out new territory away from home and lead an arboreal lifestyle with minimal social interaction. However, their home range can extensively overlap with other koalas, so it is not uncommon to spot them living in higher densities.

While koalas are highly territorial mammals, they will generally tolerate other members of the same species during the breeding season.

7. They have an excellent sense of smell

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, most nutrient rich ones—wild koalas have been observed to sniff leaves before tasting them.

8. They can sleep up to 18 hours a day

The koala may sleep or rest for up to 18-20 hours every day while being tucked into the fork of the tree. Their extraordinary sleeping habit is believed to be an adaptation to their leaf-based diet, as they get very little energy from just eating leaves. Hence, koalas need more rest and sleep than most mammals to conserve their energy in dry environments such as the Australian bush.

9. Koalas can live up to 15 years in the wild

The lifespan of koalas, along with their body sizes, can differ between sexes. Male koalas can be identified by their clearly visible scent gland in the middle of the chest and they are also much larger than female koalas. Male koalas usually live up to 12 years, whereas females of this species can live for much longer, up to 15 years.

10. Their wild numbers are declining.

At present, koalas face multiple threats in the wild, from deforestation, drought, disease, habitat loss, fragmentation, and modification to climate change. Bushfires are fairly common occurrences in the Australian outback, but as climate changes, more frequent and intense fires happen, which poses an increasing threat to koalas. For example, the 2019-20 Australian bushfire season was one of the most unprecedented and deadly wildfires ever experienced by the continent, resulting in the tragic loss of nearly 3 billion animals, including the tree-hugging koalas.

Our work with Wildlife

The WWF report, entitled Australia’s 2019-2020 Bushfires: The Wildlife Toll , revealed the true scale of devastation left in the aftermath of the Australia's 2019-20 bushfires. Nearly three billion animals were killed or displaced, including 143 million mammals, 2.46 billion reptiles, 180 million birds, and 51 million frogs.

In January 2020, the WWF UK bushfires appeal raised over £3.2 million as thousands of supporters signed up to become koala protectors and gave generous donations to help fund the recovery effort. The fund raised helped provide emergency care for injured wildlife, restore homes for koalas and other wildlife, plant the first 10,000 trees urgently needed in koala habitats, and support the response, recovery and restoration teams in Australia.

Help us keep this unique bear thriving – adopt a giant panda now.

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How endangered is the Koala? Is it at risk of extinction? How many Koalas remain?

The Australian Koala Foundation’s (AKF) research indicates that the Koala is in trouble and that extinctions of local populations have already occurred. In contrast to the millions of Koalas which were thought to be present at the time of European settlement, the AKF believes that there could be less than 80,000 remaining today, possibly as few as 43,000. If this rate of decline continues then yes, the Koala is at risk of extinction. More information…

What specific Koala food trees for my area should I plant to enhance their habitat? There are Koalas on my property.

It’s great that you want to assist your local Koalas by planting suitable Koala food trees on your property. With Koala habitat now highly fragmented, it’s important to replant degraded areas to give Koalas a better chance of survival. The AKF has developed a guide to which trees you can plant, divided by Local Government Area (i.e. by local council area).

Are Koalas permitted to be kept as pets?

No, it is not permitted anywhere in the world. It is illegal to have a Koala as a pet anywhere, even in Australia. The only people who are permitted to have a Koala in their possession, besides suitably authorised zoos, are, occasionally, scientists, and the people who are taking care of sick or injured Koalas or orphaned joeys. These people must have a special permit from wildlife authorities to do this work and the carers must return the animals to the wild as soon as they are well enough or, in the case of joeys, old enough, to take care of themselves. Because of Koalas’ unique physiological and dietary needs, it is a specialised job to take care of them and requires training from people who have experience in doing it.  Koalas are wild animals. Don’t you think they are better off in the wild eucalyptus forests that are their natural home?

Where does the word ‘Koala’ come from?

‘Koala’ is thought to have meant ‘no drink’ in one of the Aboriginal languages. Koalas don’t need to drink very often because they get most of the moisture they need from eucalyptus leaves. However, they can drink from waterholes and creeks etc if necessary, such as in times of drought when the eucalyptus leaves contain less moisture than normal. There were many different languages spoken by Aboriginal people throughout the country, although some of those languages have been lost today, and the name for a Koala appears in diverse forms in the written accounts of early settlers (coming from Aboriginal language origins) as cullewine, koolewong, colo, colah, koolah, kaola, Koala, karbor, boorabee, and goribun. As you can see some of these words are somewhat similar in sound to ‘Koala’. Source: The Koala Book. Ann Sharp. David Bateman Ltd. New Zealand. 1995.

Why do some people call Koalas ‘Koala bears’?

Please don’t call me a ‘Koala bear’! When Europeans first came to Australia, they thought that Koalas looked like bears so they were often called ‘Koala bears’. Koalas are not bears – they are marsupials and their correct name is ‘Koalas’.

What is the name (collective noun) for a group of Koalas?

There’s no collective noun for a group of Koalas moving around together because Koalas don’t move around in groups like dolphins or some birds. They are fairly solitary creatures, although they do like to be living in overlapping home ranges in bushland with other Koalas. We usually call these groups ‘Koala populations’ or ‘Koala colonies’.

What are the names for male and female Koalas?

Scientists often refer to a male Koala as a ‘buck’ and a female as a ‘doe’. A baby Koala is called a ‘joey’ .

How long do Koalas live? How old is the oldest known Koala?

In the wild in undamaged habitat, the average life span of a Koala is about 10 years. However, where habitat is damaged, such as in suburban areas, they may only live for a few months or years because of the dangers from cars and dogs. Males tend to have a shorter life span than females because of the stresses of fights during the breeding season and the fact that they tend to move around more than females in search of mates, thus putting them in increased danger from dogs and cars. One of the reasons Koalas don’t live a long time is because when their teeth get ground down from eating the tough eucalyptus leaves, they don’t grow back, so after a time, they can’t grind the leaves down properly and get enough nourishment from them. Because of the stresses associated with living in the wild, Koalas in the wild can have a considerably shorter life span than Koalas in zoos. Koalas in zoos and wildlife parks don’t have to travel any distance for food, they don’t have to face the same dangers as wild Koalas  and they get regular expert veterinary attention. The oldest zoo Koala that we know about was a female who lived to 23 years old at Lone Pine Sanctuary in Queensland. Her name was Sarah and she is in the Guiness Book of Records as the oldest known Koala. The oldest male Koala we have heard of was Tam Tam at Tama Zoo near Tokyo. He lived to 22.

How many hours do Koalas sleep each day?

Usually between 18 to 22 hours. They sleep a lot to conserve energy as their diet requires a lot of energy to digest.

Do Koalas have a backward-facing pouch?

The pouch is actually situated in the centre of the female’s abdomen and the opening faces straight outwards, rather than backwards. However, the pouch opening is towards the bottom of the pouch, so when the joey is larger and puts its head out of the pouch it  can appear that the pouch faces backwards.

Do Koalas get ‘drugged out’ on eucalyptus leaves?

No. There is a common misconception that Koalas get ‘drugged out’ or ‘high’ on eucalyptus leaves and that’s why they sleep a lot. This myth possibly arose as a way of explaining why Koalas sleep for up to 22 hours a day. They need more sleep than most animals because eucalyptus leaves contain toxins and are very low in nutrition and high in fibrous matter so they take a large amount of energy to digest. Sleeping for long periods is a strategy for conserving energy. Koalas and gliders are the only mammals which can tolerate the toxins in gumleaves but fortunately they don’t make them ‘high’ or ‘drugged out’.

Do Koalas smell like eucalyptus cough drops? Does eating eucalyptus prevent them from being affected by external parasites?

Yes, mostly Koalas do smell like cough drops or certainly a pleasant eucalyptus smell.   Mature males tend to have a stronger odour because of their scent gland and it can be a strong musky odour than eucalyptus. Juvenile males are more likely to give off a very slight eucalyptus smell.   Koala mothers teach their joeys how to eat different species of trees so they have a balance diet and yes, all these different leaves act like a natural insect repellent.   Very clever of Mother Nature.

How many species of Koalas are there?

There is only one species of Koala. However, there appears to be some difference of opinion amongst the scientific community about whether there are 2 or 3 sub-species (or ‘races’) of Koalas, or even if there are any sub-species at all.

There is a Koala in a tree on my property. What should I do?

Unfortunately, due to habitat destruction and the incursion of developments into existing  Koala habitat, many Koalas are now forced to live in the same places as humans.  Therefore it’s the responsibility of residents living in these areas to consider the Koalas’ needs and safety. More information…

There is a development/tree clearing happening in my area – what can I do?

Guidelines on what to do when Koalas are in danger in your area

What is the importance of having national parks for protecting Koalas?

National parks – and other types of protected habitat – are a great concept and can be very important for small pockets of habitat and wildlife. In Australia, however, only a tiny fraction of habitats are lucky enough to have this protection. These parks tend to be the more rugged and unusual areas less suitable for agriculture – whereas Koalas prefer the same fertile lands that people like for agriculture and urban development. Many national parks are small and isolated much like ‘islands’, suffer declining health (eg. weed invasion) and ‘trap’ Koalas in. Eighty percent of Koala habitat is situated on privately-owned land (eg. farmland), not in national parks. This is why the AKF wants legislation that will prevent people from cutting down habitat on their land and provide incentives for them to protect and manage habitat for Koalas and other wildlife. To support our efforts to ensure there is adequate and effective legislation to protect Koala habitat, click here .

What qualifications do I need to get a job working with Koalas & what training would I need?

There are many different jobs which allow you to work with Koalas and different training is required for different jobs.

Where can I go to see Koalas in the wild? If I were to see a Koala in the wild, would I be able to go up to it?

As the Koala’s range covers a huge area it’s not feasible to list all the places here. Click here for some suggestions and information about wild Koalas.

I saw a program on TV about a Koala ‘orphanage’. Where can I go to hold an orphaned joey?

The general public is not normally permitted to hold an orphaned joey and there are no “Koala orphanages” as such. Unless they are actually sick or injured, orphaned Koalas are most often hand-raised at home by individual wildlife carers who must have special training and a permit from wildlife authorities to carry out this work.

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Home Fact Files Koala

Phascolarctos cinereus

There’s nothing more Aussie than a koala up a gumtree, and these iconic marsupials are a well-loved species that are found nowhere else in the world. With their habitat sadly under threat, and numbers declining, the koala is the last surviving member of the Phascolarctidae (pouched bear) family and needs our protection.  

Often wrongly referred to as a bear, koalas have a stocky body, with no tail, and are covered in a thick ash-grey fur with white underbelly. A large round head, fluffy ears, and a distinctive black leathery rectangle-shaped nose, make this animal unmistakably unique.

Found in patches across Australia, numbers are in decline due to land clearing and habitat loss, but koalas can still be found along the east coast of Australia from northern Queensland to southern Victoria as well as south-eastern South Australia. Depending on their location, koalas vary in size and colour. Animals living in the southern parts of Australia are usually larger in size with thicker fur than their northern cousins, which may be a possible adaption to combat the cooler weather. Male koalas are also generally up to 50 per cent bigger than females.

Feeding exclusively on leaves from certain varieties of eucalyptus trees, this diet is relatively low in nutrients which gives the koala little energy to spare. The fibrous nature of eucalyptus leaves also makes them tricky to digest, but the koala has a long caecum which is part of the intestine, to help pass things through. An adult koala can munch on between 500grams to 1kg of leaves each night and relies on supplies from a series of ‘home trees’ within its range which overlap with those belonging to other koalas.

This fluffy tree-dwelling marsupial has a slow metabolism aimed at conserving energy and spends up to 20 hours a day sleeping. Koalas are classified as nocturnal, but they still sleep for part of the night and sometimes move about in the daylight hours.

Territorial and solitary animals, koalas use several sounds, including growling, belching, and bellowing to communicate with each other. Adult males have scent glands on their chest which they rub on trees to mark out their territory. Koalas mate in spring through to early autumn and a tiny joey is born 35 days after successful coupling. Completely reliant on its mother, a joey is born around 2cm long or the size of a jellybean and uses its keen sense of smell and touch to climb independently to its mother’s teat. After feeding and growing for 13 weeks, the koala joey still won’t look around and open its eyes until it is 22 weeks old.

Once the juvenile koala is weaned from milk, it feeds on an unusual soft liquid faeces called pap , from its mother. This substance is thought to introduce the right bacteria to the joey which is necessary for digesting gum leaves. After a full six months in the pouch, the joey then hitches a ride on mum’s back or abdomen but still returns to the pouch to drink milk until it grows too big to fit! Eventually leaving the shared home range and mother between one and three years of age, the koala needs to find its own specific home range of trees which is either a new area of the forest or a space left vacant by a dead koala.

Tree conservation is extremely important to the ongoing survival of the koala, with every forest having its own ‘carrying capacity’ – the amount of available gumtrees within any forest can only feed a certain number of this species, making the protection of potential koala habitat extremely important to the future of this fluffy Aussie icon.

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What roles do different family members play in a koala group?

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Koalas are fascinating creatures that live in complex social groups, each with unique dynamics and structures. Understanding the family dynamics of koalas is essential for their survival and conservation. In this section, we will explore the various roles played by different family members in a koala group, shedding light on the social structure and group dynamics of these adorable marsupials.

Within a koala group, each family member has a specific role to play. The dominant male holds the highest position in the hierarchy, having the largest home range that overlaps with both males and females. This dominant male is responsible for ensuring the group’s safety and protecting its territory.

Female koalas, on the other hand, play a vital role in breeding and raising the young. They have their own territories within the group’s home range, where they provide care and supervision to their offspring. The females also contribute to the overall social cohesion and communication within the group.

The young koalas, known as joeys, are essential for the future of the group. They learn from their parents and gain the necessary skills and knowledge to survive in their own territories. Once they reach maturity, young males often disperse from their mother’s home range to find their own territory and potentially become a part of another breeding group.

Communication is crucial for maintaining social bonds within the koala group. Koalas use a range of sounds, such as grunting bellows and vocalizations, to communicate with each other and establish dominance. They also mark their trees with scent to convey messages and territory boundaries.

By understanding the roles and dynamics of different family members within a koala group, we can better appreciate the complexity of their social structure. This knowledge is vital for koala conservation efforts and protecting these unique animals and their habitats.

Koala family hierarchy and relationships

Koalas live in socially stable groups with a hierarchical structure. Understanding the family hierarchy and relationships within a koala group is essential for comprehending their social dynamics.

“The koala family hierarchy consists of a dominant male and breeding females. The dominant male has the largest home range, which overlaps with the territories of other males and females. This dominance is maintained through vocalizations, scent marking, and physical interactions.”

Young males often linger at the edges of stable groups, waiting for an opportunity to become a permanent resident. These individuals may engage in social interactions with other group members, which can provide insights into the formation of familial bonds and potential mating opportunities.

Koala social interactions

Koalas rely on social interactions to maintain cohesion within their groups. These interactions primarily occur in shared, overlapping tree territories. Social behaviors, such as grooming and vocalizations, play a crucial role in establishing and reinforcing relationships among koalas.

• Grooming: Koalas engage in grooming activities as a way to maintain social bonds and establish trust within the group. Mutual grooming helps remove parasites and creates a sense of intimacy and companionship.
• Vocalizations: Koalas communicate through a range of vocalizations, including grunting bellows by dominant males to assert their dominance. Females also vocalize during aggression or courtship.

Through these social interactions, koalas establish their place within the family hierarchy and maintain stable relationships with other group members. The hierarchical structure and social interactions within koala groups contribute to the overall stability and well-being of the population.

The Impact of Habitat Loss and Climate Change on Koalas

Koalas, beloved marsupials native to Australia, are facing a dire situation due to habitat loss and the effects of climate change. These factors have contributed to a significant decline in the koala population , putting their survival at risk. Understanding the extent of this impact is crucial for developing effective conservation strategies.

One of the primary threats to koalas is habitat loss. Deforestation and land clearing have resulted in fragmented populations and the destruction of crucial resources for koalas, such as their preferred eucalyptus trees. As their habitat shrinks, koalas struggle to find suitable food and shelter, leading to decreased reproductive success and increased vulnerability to predation and disease.

Furthermore, climate change exacerbates the challenges faced by koalas. The increasing frequency and intensity of natural disasters, such as droughts, floods, and bushfires, have devastating effects on eucalyptus forests, which are essential for the survival of koalas. Changing weather patterns also disrupt mating and breeding cycles, further impacting their population.

In addition to habitat loss and climate change, koalas are also susceptible to diseases like chlamydia, which has contributed to population decline. These factors combined have led to koalas being listed as a vulnerable species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

The Impact of Habitat Loss and Climate Change: A Closer Look

To gain a better understanding of the impact of habitat loss and climate change on koalas, let’s take a closer look at some key statistics:

These statistics highlight the urgent need for conservation efforts to protect koala habitats, monitor population trends, and manage the spread of diseases. Restoring and preserving koala habitats and implementing sustainable practices are key components of safeguarding the future of these iconic creatures.

Koala Communication: Vocalizations and Scent Marking

Communication plays a crucial role in maintaining social cohesion within koala groups. Koalas use a variety of sounds to convey information and mark their territory through scent. Understanding these communication methods provides valuable insights into their social dynamics and behavior.

Vocalizations

Koalas communicate through vocalizations, with males producing deep grunting bellows to signify dominance and location. These bellows are powerful and can carry over long distances, allowing males to establish their presence and avoid confrontations. Females also vocalize with calls for aggression and during sexual behavior. Each individual has a unique vocal signature, enabling others to identify them within the group.

Scent Marking

Koalas mark their trees with their scent, serving as a communication tool for both males and females. Scent marking not only helps individuals identify their own territory but also provides information about their reproductive status and social interactions. By rubbing their chest on tree trunks and leaving scent glands, koalas leave behind a distinctive odor that other koalas can detect. This scent marking helps establish boundaries and facilitates social interactions within the group.

Koala communication , through vocalizations and scent marking, is essential for establishing social hierarchy, maintaining boundaries, and facilitating interactions within koala groups. These communication methods provide valuable insights into the complex dynamics of these fascinating creatures.

Koala Conservation Efforts

Koalas are beloved icons of Australia and are considered vulnerable due to habitat loss, climate change, and disease. To protect and preserve these unique creatures, various conservation efforts have been implemented, focusing on habitat restoration and the establishment of wildlife corridors .

One key aspect of koala conservation is habitat restoration. Organizations and volunteers work tirelessly to replant koala food trees, such as eucalyptus, and restore the habitats that have been destroyed by deforestation and land clearing. By creating suitable environments for koalas, these efforts aim to provide them with essential resources for survival and breeding.

Another important initiative is the establishment of wildlife corridors . These corridors connect fragmented habitats, allowing koalas to move safely between areas. By creating these pathways, conservationists aim to combat the negative effects of habitat fragmentation, facilitating gene flow and supporting the long-term viability of koala populations.

Table: Koala Conservation Efforts

Conservation organizations and volunteers play a crucial role in protecting koalas and their habitats. They work together to advocate for legislative changes, conduct population monitoring, and manage diseases that affect koalas. By actively engaging in these conservation efforts, we can help ensure the survival of these unique and cherished animals for future generations.

Koalas at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium

The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium is proud to be home to several adorable koalas, including Katy, Kora, and Koen. These koalas not only bring joy to visitors but also play a crucial role in conservation efforts. The zoo actively participates in the Species Survival Plan (SSP) for koalas, which aims to maintain genetically diverse populations in human care and support their conservation in the wild.

“Koalas are iconic species and serve as ambassadors for their wild counterparts,” says Dr. Jane Smith, a wildlife conservation expert at the Columbus Zoo. “Through our conservation efforts and partnerships with other zoos and organizations, we strive to protect and restore their fragile ecosystem.”

As part of their commitment to koala conservation , the Columbus Zoo focuses on educational initiatives to raise awareness about the challenges faced by koalas in the wild. They offer informative presentations, interactive exhibits, and educational programs for visitors of all ages. These efforts aim to inspire individuals to take action and make a positive impact on koala conservation .

The zoo’s dedication to koala protection and restoration extends beyond its premises. They actively collaborate with other zoos, wildlife organizations, and research institutions to share knowledge, exchange breeding pairs, and support conservation projects in Australia. By working together, these partnerships strive to ensure the long-term survival of koalas and their habitats.

Visiting the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium provides a unique opportunity to observe and learn about koalas up close while supporting their conservation efforts. By experiencing the wonder of these magnificent creatures, visitors are encouraged to become advocates for their protection in the wild. Together, we can make a difference in preserving koalas for future generations.

Koalas are fascinating creatures that live in complex social groups with distinct roles for different family members. Understanding and protecting koala family dynamics is crucial for their long-term survival and the conservation of these iconic creatures.

The loss of habitat, climate change, and disease pose significant threats to koalas. Deforestation and land clearing have led to fragmented populations and the loss of vital resources. Climate change further devastates eucalyptus forests, which are essential for koalas. Additionally, koalas are susceptible to diseases like chlamydia, which reduces their population.

However, there is hope for the preservation of koala populations. Conservation efforts, both in the wild and in captivity, play a crucial role in protecting koalas. Organizations like Friends of the Koala are actively working to protect and restore koala habitats, monitor populations, and manage diseases. Planting koala food trees, establishing wildlife corridors to connect fragmented habitats, and influencing legislation changes are some key conservation strategies.

With ongoing efforts and a greater awareness of the importance of conserving these unique animals, we can ensure the survival of koalas for future generations. Koala conservation is not just about protecting the species; it is about preserving the intricate family dynamics that make these animals so special.

How do different family members in a koala group contribute to caring for koalas in captivity, and what challenges do they face in doing so?

In a koala group, various family members assist in providing koalas in captivity care challenges . The parents care for their young, ensuring proper nutrition and grooming. Siblings often help in socializing and playing with the young koalas, promoting their physical and mental development. However, challenges arise in replicating the natural habitat and social interactions in captivity.

Different family members in a koala group have distinct roles. The dominant male is responsible for breeding, while the females in the group also play a role in reproduction. Young males often hang around stable groups, waiting for an opportunity to become permanent residents.

What is the family hierarchy in a koala group?

Koala groups have a family hierarchy, with a dominant male and breeding females. The dominant male has the largest home range, which overlaps with both males and females. The other members of the group, including young males, have subordinate roles.

How does habitat loss and climate change affect koalas?

Habitat loss and climate change pose significant threats to koalas. Deforestation and land clearing lead to fragmented populations and a loss of vital resources for koalas. Climate change, including droughts, floods, and bushfires, further devastates the eucalyptus forests that are essential for koalas.

How do koalas communicate with each other?

Koalas communicate through a range of sounds and scent marking. Males emit deep grunting bellows to signify dominance and location. Females also make calls for aggression and sexual behavior. Koalas mark their trees with scent to communicate with each other.

What are the conservation efforts for koalas?

Conservation efforts for koalas focus on protecting and restoring habitats, monitoring populations, and managing diseases. Organizations implement strategies such as planting koala food trees, establishing wildlife corridors, and influencing legislation changes to protect and restore koala populations.

How are koalas protected at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium?

The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium houses several koalas, including Katy, Kora, and Koen. These koalas contribute to conservation efforts through the Species Survival Plan and collaborations with other zoos. The zoo focuses on preserving the fragile ecosystem of Queensland koalas through education and active participation in koala protection and restoration.

What is the importance of understanding koala family dynamics?

Understanding koala family dynamics is crucial for their long-term survival and conservation. Different family members have specific roles and relationships within the group, and preserving these dynamics is essential for the well-being and population stability of koalas.

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Koala ( Phascolarctos cinereus ) Fact Sheet: Behavior & Ecology

• Taxonomy & History
• Distribution & Habitat
• Physical Characteristics
• Behavior & Ecology
• Diet & Feeding
• Reproduction & Development
• Managed Care
• Population & Conservation Status
• Bibliography & Resources

Activity Cycle

Most often described in literature as nocturnal, with some activities occurring during the day Recent study, however, of 59 radio-collared individuals on St. Bees Island, Queensland revealed koalas travel nearly the same distance in the day as at night (Ellis et al. 2009)

• Ranged an average of 53.6 m (176 ft) during day
• Ranged 63.3 (208 ft) at night
• Nighttime tree for feeding often not same tree used in day for resting

An adult spends about 19-20 hours/day sitting, sleeping In a study of koalas at the San Diego Zoo,

• 1 to 4 hr/day feeding; remainder of active time grooming, moving between trees, social activities (Jackson 2007)
• Foraging is done in 4 - 6 sessions per day, each lasting about 20 minutes to 2 hours

Low energy lifestyle is necessary for animal that specializes on such a low energy diet Posture changes help with body temperature regulations (Lee & Martin 1988)

• Hot day - limbs extended, dangle on either side of tree
• Cold, wet windy day - arms folded against chest, legs drawn against belly

Studies of breeding dynamics in koalas at Blair Athol, central Queensland revealed (Ellis et al. 2001) (Ellis et al. 2002b):

• Whether resident or transient, male koalas are equally likely to sire offspring; resident status offers no advantage
• Home ranges of males and females show no size differences
• Shared 1.78 ha, or 25.5% of home range with other koalas
• Each koala shared a home range with at least 7 other koalas
• Home range overlap not influenced by sex of koala
• Even when ranges overlap, koalas rarely share trees (don't share food resources)
• Distribution of koalas perhaps more influenced by social factors than features of the landscape
• 6 ha to 300 ha (15 acres to 741 acres

Koala males may be territorial or non-territorial (Melzer et al 2010)

• Highly territorial
• Large non-overlapping ranges
• Non-territorial

Social Groups

Viewed as non-social but live alone within a complex community (Ellis et al. 2009)

• Regulated by a complex communication network
• Tend to occur in clusters of overlapping home ranges
• Foraging and social strategies evolved together to exploit patchy resources without direct competition

86-89% (breeding season) to 93-96% (non-breeding) time spent alone

Aggression:

• Most often occurs when one animal enters an occupied tree
• Depending on level of dominance, either invader or resident can be the aggressor
• Usual response to aggression - submission
• Actual attacks between males with major fights rarely observed. (Mitchell 1990a) (Melzer et al. 2010)
• One male usually ends up leaving, but will not be chased beyond the base of the tree
• Usually seen in males at least 4 years old
• Most observations of fighting between males made in settings in confined enclosures
• Intense bellowing
• Harsh grunting
• Climbing higher in the tree
• Both animals falling out of tree to ground
• One male dies 2 months later, perhaps due to depressed immune syste

Signs of stress:

• Continuous ear flicking
• Low whining vocalization
• Alarm posture with wide eyes, ears forward, spine vertical

Vocalization

Bellowing by males studied in wild, using GPS on both sexes, on St. Bees Island, Australia (Ellis et al. 2011):

• Extremely low frequency sounds
• Has inhalation and exhalation phase
• Number of bellows peak just before the peak of breeding activity
• No significant link seen between bellowing and other males' movements
• They travel more when more bellowing is occurring
• They probably are searching for males
• Not produced by laryngeal folds as in other mammals
• Velum also known as the soft palate
• Located at the back of the throat; intersection between the oral and nasal tracts

Besides bellowing, four types of encounter calls: (Mitchell 1990a)

• Short, harsh
• Longer (up to 2 seconds) than squawks
• Atonal to moderately tonal
• High pitched
• Sound travels farther
• Longer than screams, similar to wail of domestic cat
• Uttered by females or young in distress

Click here for Koala sounds, provided by The Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Macaulay Library

Social Interactions

By young animals Solitary or with another Climbing and jumping or chasing one another

Olfaction/Scent Marking

(Tobey et al. 2009)

Both males and females use urine and feces to scent mark objects in their environment Males also use sternal gland on chest to leave chemical signals, mostly at the base of trees

• Males at least 4 years old
• This activity most frequent during breeding season
• May be regulated by reproductive hormones
• May convey information regarding sexual maturity, health, individual identity, dominance rank

Arboreal, but must travel on the ground to move to another tree or stand of trees; travel on all fours (Grand & Barboza 2001)

• May cross up to 10 km (6.2 mi) or more of land between stands of trees
• With long digits and curved claws, hands and feet don't rest flat on the ground
• Pelvis and hip are inflexible and the gait involves much side-to-side movement
• Limb movements aren't coordinated or smooth

Males tend to move to new trees more often than females

• Bound up rapidly, using strong hind legs to push them up
• Alternatively, climb slowly, using arm, then opposite hind limb
• Recurved claws and opposable digits help them grasp trunks and branches
• Climb down a tree with head facing up

Sitting posture facilitated by typical branching pattern of Eucalyptus trees (Grand & Barboza 2001):

• Brances grow outward in acute angle to trunk, giving koalas a good place to wedge themselves securely

For their slow deliberate movements, koalas have one-third less muscle mass than their faster wombat relatives (Grand & Barboza 2001)

Interspecies Interactions

Dingos and humans today are only significant natural predators on adult koalas. (Smith 1987)

• Dingos were introduced between 3,500 and 12,000 years ago by humans (Savolainen et al. 2004)

Preyed on by wedge-tailed eagles on St. Bees Island (Melzer et al. 2003) Other raptors prey on koalas on mainland Possible Pleistocene predators: (Wroe 2004) (Tyndale-Biscoe 1995)

• A large marsupial lion ( Thylacoleo carnifex )
• A giant Komodo dragon Megalania prisca, up to 5 m (16 ft) long
• Pythons, up to 6 m (20 ft)

Sleeping on a Limb

Dependent on a diet of Eucalyptus that’s low in calories, koalas survive with a low metabolism and a habit of sleeping or sitting 20 hours a day. Dense wooly fur cushions the koala from branches and protects from extremes of the weather .

Image credit: © BlacktouchYellow from Flickr . Some rights reserved.

Page Citations

Charlton et al. (2013) Eberhard (1978) Ellis et al. (2001) Ellis et al. (2002b) Ellis et al. (2009) Grand & Barboza (2001) Jackson (2007) Lee & Martin (1988) Martin (2001) Martin & Handasyde (1990) Melzer et al. (2010) Mitchell (1990a,b) Savolainen et al. (2004) Smith (1979a) Smith (1980a,b,c) Smith (1987) Tobey et al (2009) Tyndale-Biscoe (1995) Wroe (2004)

SDZWA Library Links

• Animal Fact Sheet Index A-to-Z listing of all SDZWA Animal Fact Sheets, by common and scientific name. Browse by taxonomic group (Mammals, Birds, Amphibians & Reptiles, Invertebrates), or by SDZWA park habitat or Conservation Hub. In each fact sheet, find detailed information by clicking on the tabs at the top of the page. A list of sources is shared in the Bibliography.
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What the Social Lives of Koalas Tell Us About Ourselves

Danielle clode on solitude and companionship in the animal kingdom.

As I follow Ash around the different enclosures at Cleland, I notice that the animals are not evenly dispersed. More often than not, two koalas will be sitting together—nearby, side by side or “spooning,” with one hugging the other’s back, sometimes resting or even sleeping on each other. It happens too much for it to be chance, and it doesn’t seem to be related to the proximity of their food.

“Are those two related?” I ask Ash, looking at a huddle of grey fur, with two faces turned to watch us.

“No, I doubt it,” she says. “Monica and Riley are rescue animals. They came in at different times. They just really like hanging out together. Sometimes Deputy joins in their group hugs, but mostly he keeps his distance.”

We move on to another enclosure.

“These two are interesting,” Ash says. “Cleo and Vicki were brought in together from Kangaroo Island after the bushfires and were very attached to each other. And they’ve stayed really close. At some point earlier in their lives they’d been tagged, and their tags are sequential numbers, so I guess they must have been caught together then as well. I reckon they’ve always stuck close together.”

I’m surprised by this unexpectedly social behavior in an animal that is known for being solitary. I’d always thought that koalas were fairly aggressive to each other.

“That’s only in the breeding season. The males are pretty stroppy then,” says Ash. “The females can get pretty agitated then too and it’s dangerous for the joeys—they sometimes get knocked off.”

I ask Kath Handasyde about her observations of wild koalas. In the sometimes-overcrowded remnants of the Victorian forests, you might expect mothers to move their young on more forcefully.

“They do. Once the young ones get to about 2 or 3 kilos, the mothers will give them a bit of a box to stop them hanging around too much,” she says. “If they’ve got another little one coming on, they can’t afford to be carrying around a great big joey any more.”

“I think it’s hormonal,” Kath continues. “We had one female who was given a contraceptive when she still had a joey on her back. That boy just got bigger and bigger and she never pushed him off. She was only 6 kilos and he was 4 kilos! They have an amazingly strong maternal instinct. Wild adult females without a joey will sometimes come to the ground and pick up a small baby koala squeaking in distress.”

I wonder about this kind of incipient sociality. Plenty of animals are downright antisocial—hostile, pugnacious, murderous to their own kind, even when resources are not in short supply. It’s hardwired into their nature. Common wombats are notorious for being cute, cuddly and affectionate as infants, but downright lethal as adults.

“When they start to mature and hit puberty,” one wildlife officer said about wombats, “they just hate everybody and everything.”

Koalas, though, appear to be flexible about their sociability—happy to share their space, and even enjoying each other’s company, when resources are abundant, but more than willing to go it alone when food is in short supply and it’s each koala for themselves. Southern koalas are said to be more sociable than northern koalas, but even here they live contentedly enough in high densities in captivity. Food quality seems to be the key to their apparently solitary natures. Such behavioral plasticity has successfully adapted them to significant environmental uncertainty. Perhaps it is another reason they have coped so well during the fluctuating climate and forests of the last few million years.

We’re inclined to judge koalas harshly for their apparent lack of sociability, as if being happy with your own company is a shortcoming. Humans are extreme outliers on the scale of primate and even mammalian sociability. We are obligingly social creatures, living in vast, complex, multi-level aggregations that are rivaled in their intricacies and spread only by insects. We are so determinedly social that we even adopt nonhumans into our social networks or invest inanimate objects with human characteristics. We see the world through a brain wired for sociality and interactions with others. As a result, we struggle to understand or accept others, human or animal, whose sociality does not conform to our own.

We define animals as presocial, subsocial or sometimes parasocial—as if there is some kind of evolutionary hierarchy from primitive solitary creatures to highly evolved, complex social systems like our own. But solitary is not the opposite of social; it’s the opposite of gregarious. Sociability is a spectrum, not a binary condition, and many species that are usually regarded as solitary—like red foxes or feral cats or badgers—sometimes form communities and exhibit amicable social interactions.

Perhaps we are just oblivious to interactions that are different from our own, or occur outside our limited range of perceptions—such as the constantly refreshing network of chemical signals that lace the landscape, or long-distance auditory communication. The world of blue whales and humpbacks is shaped by long-distance communication over many miles of ocean. The world of many terrestrial mammals is a complex web of chemical signals, mapping the age, activity and interests of individuals who share their ranges. Are you really alone if you are in constant communication with someone else?

There are costs and benefits to sociality. Individuals in social groups might gain more reliable access to mates, shared parenting of offspring, better food-gathering strategies, collaborative shelter building or defense and protection against predators. But living in groups also comes at a price—it intensifies competition for food and shelter, attracts predators and significantly increases disease transmission and interspecies aggression. To put it simply, in many species, competition for food drives individuals apart, while sex brings them together—at least for a short while.

Koalas don’t show any obvious signs of social bonding, like grooming each other, but I’m not sure that they are particularly solitary either. When they do meet others (koalas, humans or other animals) they greet them with gentle nose bumps. Other than during the breeding season, they show less aggression towards each other than cats or dogs do on first meeting. Koalas are clearly a naturally dispersed species, probably because of food supply.

But if you mapped their activity over a certain area, I wonder if you would find they are more or less likely to interact with one another than they would by pure chance? A bit of both, I suspect, depending on the individual, which is itself an interesting reflection on personal associations—what we might term friendships.

Everything about koalas tells us that food is a limiting factor. Despite the vast coverage of eucalypt forests, finding enough of the right food, the best food, the least-toxic and most-nutritious food—sufficient not only to survive but to breed and raise young to adulthood—is a constant struggle. Small wonder they typically spread themselves as out across the forests, maximizing their chances of success in an erratic and unpredictable climate. But this does not mean they are unsociable. Given an abundance of food (and without the fired-up hormones of the breeding season), they seem entirely amicable creatures for whom the touch and smell and warmth of their own kind is as comforting as it is for us.

There is no reason for koalas to associate with animals that are not koalas. Aside from the microbial symbionts that all animals are in constant contact with, I can’t think of any benefit a koala would gain from cross-species interactions. They can’t offer koalas any protection from predation, or any food or shelter. For the most part, other animals can only present a risk to koalas. So why is it, then, that from time to time koalas seek out the company of creatures not of their own kind?

A friend who raises horses noticed some of her young fillies carefully and cautiously investigating something in a tree in a corner of the paddock. They stretched their noses out towards the low foliage, sniffing, ears forward.

My friend walked around the paddock to see what they were looking at. Young fillies are not always the most sensible of creatures. They bolt and startle at the slightest disturbance, sometimes tangling themselves in fences. She stood ready to intervene and calm them down. Something moved in the vegetation, and she noticed a koala climbing down the tree. It stopped at head height to the horses and slowly turned around, looking at them.

The more adventurous of the fillies stretched out her neck, and the koala reached out towards her face. Its long claws lengthened against the soft, delicate skin of the filly’s cheek. My friend held her breath. The filly snorted in surprise, huffing horsey breath on the koala, but the koala did not move. The filly leant back in, and the koala seemed to stroke her face before turning back to the tree, and both animals went their separate ways.

We rarely witness such interactions in the wild. It’s hard enough to see koalas on their own, let alone with other animals, undisturbed by our presence.

__________________________________

Excerpted from   Koala : A Natural History and an Uncertain Future by Danielle Clode. Copyright © 2023. First American Edition 2023. First published in Australia in 2022 as Koala : A Life in Trees by Black Inc., an imprint of Schwartz Books Pty Ltd. Used with permission of the publisher, W. W.  Norton  & Company, Inc. All rights reserved.

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What is the koala?

The koala is an iconic Australian animal. Often called the koala “bear,” this tree-climbing animal is a marsupial—a mammal with a pouch for the development of offspring.

Though koalas look fuzzy, their hair is more like the coarse wool of a sheep. They have two opposing thumbs on their hands, and both their feet and hands have rough pads and claws to grab onto branches. They have two toes, fused together , on their feet, which they use to comb their fur.

Habitat, behavior, and diet

Koalas live in the eucalyptus forests of southeastern and eastern Australia. When not sleeping, they’re usually eating. They rely on the eucalyptus tree for both habitat and food. Koalas can eat more than a pound of eucalyptus leaves a day. Eucalyptus is toxic, so the koala’s digestive system has to work hard to digest it, breaking down the toxins and extracting limited nutrients.

That’s why koalas sleep so much— they get very little energy from their diet. Tucked into forks or nooks in the trees, koalas may sleep for 18 to 22 hours.

Koalas usually don’t drink much water as they get most of their moisture from these leaves. Koalas can even store leaves in their cheek pouches for later. They eat so much eucalyptus that they often take on its smell .

Threats to survival

Koala numbers plummeted in the late 19th and early 20th century from hunting for their fur. Now they face serious threats from habitat loss. Land clearing, logging , and bushfires—especially the devastating 2019-2020 season —have destroyed much of the forest they live in. Koalas need a lot of space—about a hundred trees per animal—a pressing problem as Australia's woodlands continue to shrink.

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 . They’re also at risk of getting hit by cars and attacked by dogs. Chlamydia is widespread in some koala populations and can cause blindness, infertility, and sometimes death .

Conservation

Koalas lost substantial portions of their habitat in the 2019-2020 bushfire season and have been identified by the Australian government as one of 113 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.

Ensuring there’s the right kind of forest for them to return to is a priority. 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. Understanding koala genetics, mating choices, and health will shed light on koala biology that’s important for developing plans to better protect the species.

A koala with her offspring photographed at Australia Zoo in Beerwah.

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Animal facts, education & inspiration

Koalas do not drink much water and they get most of their moisture from these leaves. In Aborigine language, the word ‘koala’ means ‘no water’.

Are Koalas Friendly? (It’s NOT What You Think)

Updated on: June 2, 2023

Henry Sinclair

June 2, 2023 / Reading time: 4 minutes

Sarah Kirby

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One of the most famous animals globally and Australia’s most known representative across the globe is the koala. When people see their cute faces, the first question that pops into the heads of many is, are koalas friendly? And that’s an excellent question.

Koalas are not friendly to humans, even if they seem like they are. They are wild animals, and like many other wild animals, they don’t like any contact with people. Koalas are by nature solitary and shy animals, and they like to do their own thing without humans or other animals bothering them.  

Are Koalas Friendly?

Despite their cute-looking appearance, koalas are not really friendly, and it’s a myth that they enjoy contact with humans. There are some cases of koalas that enjoy being petted and are okay with being touched by humans. But in those cases, koalas were raised by those same humans.

If a wildlife caretaker is raising an orphan koala, it’s expected that the animal will form some relationship with the person with whom it is spending the days. However, even a koala that’s been raised in an enclosure surrounded by wildlife caretakers isn’t friendly with unfamiliar people.

Even if they seem friendly, they are often triggered if humans come near them and become very nervous. They are not dangerous animals per se, but they are still wild animals, and if they feel threatened, they will attack you.

Are Koalas Friendly With Each Other?

Koalas are not friendly to each other, and they prefer to live a solitary lifestyle. Not often, but sometimes koalas can be very aggressive toward each other’s, and they can even fight. 

Koalas live in social groups, and they don’t like to migrate. When they find their home, they like to stay there with their group. They are highly territorial, but they respect the territory of others.

The fact that they live in complex social groups is fascinating. Even though they are not friendly with each other, they will try to avoid conflict. And they will do it primarily because they are trying to save their energy.

In the social groups where koalas live, every group member knows its place and what it can do or not. Now you see, if koalas are not friendly with each other, why would they be friendly with humans?

Do Koalas Like Humans?

Koalas don’t like humans in most cases, and it’s simple as that. It may sound a bit harsh, but the reality is that koalas don’t like humans. And if they could choose, they wouldn’t interact with us. Wild koalas are quite territorial, and they will more likely display aggressive rather than friendly behavior.

Did you ever assume that koalas are sluggish animals that like to hang around and eat eucalyptus leaves? Because most of the time, koalas are just like that. However, they are not lazy.

Koalas just lead a slow lifestyle because their diet doesn’t let them have a hectic lifestyle. Due to that, they rest a lot throughout the day and chew their favorite leaves. And when we consider their lifestyle choices, inevitably, koalas don’t like to be bothered, and they don’t like to be bothered by humans especially.

Wild koalas don’t like to be petted, they are not fans of cuddling, and they won’t like it if you come close to them. So, if you ever come across a koala, make sure not to get too close to the animal.

But even if you come close, a koala will run off. Because although they lead a slow lifestyle, they can be pretty fast when they see an annoying human.

Can Koalas and Humans Be Friends?

Sometimes koalas and humans can be friends . But it can happen only in specific scenarios, and it’s not something that usually happens.

If a baby koala becomes an orphan and a wildlife caretaker starts taking care of it, a bond can be formed between koalas and humans. If a koala is raised by the caretaker and surrounded by people from its first days, it can get used to people.

And even in those cases, can we say that koalas and humans are friends? Not really. A koala is a wild animal with instincts, and it will always be a wild animal.

This means that the bond that’s been formed between a koala and a human is never going to be the same as the one the human can form with a dog.

Can You Touch a Koala?

No, you should never touch a koala. And you should never touch any wild animal, especially the ones you encounter in the wild. 

Many videos on the internet show you koalas that like to be petted and koalas that seem to enjoy a casual afternoon cuddling session. In those videos, koalas are often touched by the people they are used to, so they are permitting them to pet them.

However, koalas can be highly irritated and upset by other people they don’t know.

If you try to touch a koala, it can get pretty angry and even try to chase you. They look like they are unbothered, but in reality, people are bothered a lot.

So, please don’t try to touch a koala if you encounter one.

Final Thoughts

Koalas are cute, and they are a definite symbol of Australia. They seem lazy, but they are sleeping for 18 hours a day because they don’t get enough energy from the diet they practice. So, even if they seem like friendly animals, they aren’t. They may seem friendly due to their sleepy-like eyes and slow lifestyle, but in reality, they love to be left alone.

Unfortunately, koalas are losing their homes due to frequent deforestation and bushfires. Also, their numbers are falling due to the same reasons and diseases.

So, if you like koalas and you would love to do something good for them, restrain yourself from petting them and instead donate to help an organization that’s trying to save them.

There you have it. I hope this article has helped you solve the dilemma “are koalas friendly?”

If you liked this post, I would recommend a similar read – Are Lions Friendly to Humans?

https://www.wwf.org.au/news/blogs/10-interesting-facts-about-koalas

https://www.savethekoala.com/about-koalas/how-koalas-live-socialise-communicate/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koala

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What is a koala?

Koalas are one of the most widely recognized animals in Australia. Thanks to their cuddly appearance, they’re often referred to as koala bears, though they are not members of the bear family. Koalas are medium-sized marsupials, but their round faces, rounded leathery noses, prominent eyes, big, fluffy ears, and soft, thick coats of fur all contribute to their teddy bear-like appearance.

Koalas have short tails, stout bodies, and strong, clawed feet. Their front and hind feet have opposable digits adapted to help them grip and climb trees. While koalas are typically depicted as having silver-grey fur, they can also be chocolate-brown, depending on their geographical location.

Koalas are primarily found in coastal eastern and southeastern Australia. In the southern part of their range—Victoria and South Australia—koalas can weigh up to 14 kilograms , reaching lengths of up to 85 centimeters . Further north in Queensland, koalas only reach about half that size.

They have a highly selective diet—koalas mainly feed on eucalyptus tree leaves, which provide them with both nutrition and water. These herbivores have a specialized digestive system that allows them to detoxify the chemicals in eucalyptus leaves, which can be toxic to many other animals. Their cecum, an intestinal pouch around two meters long, is crucial for breaking down the leaves’ tough cellulose and toxic chemicals. Despite eating up to 1.3 kilograms of these leaves daily, they provide little nutritional value, leaving the koalas with little energy to expend. As a result, koalas are very sedentary, sleeping for an average of 18 to 20 hours per day. As nocturnal creatures, most of their waking hours are at night. Though they’re generally calm and quiet, when they do communicate, koalas emit loud, hollow grunts.

Koalas are generally solitary animals and tend to stick to a distinct home range. The size of these home ranges can vary depending on the quality of the habitat and the koala’s sex, age, and social position. On average, a koala’s home range includes around a dozen trees , and they favor one tree in particular. Unless they’re breeding, koalas tend not to visit each other’s home range of trees.

Younger breeding females tend to give birth to one baby koala —known as a joey—per year. As they get older, female koalas tend to give birth to a joey every two or three years . A single joey is born after a gestation period of around 34 to 36 days . They’re usually only two centimeters long , blind, deaf, and furless. Using instinct, smell and touch, this underdeveloped joey makes its way to its mother’s pouch. As the only member of the Phascolarctidae family, koalas have rear-facing pouches. Once in the pouch, it latches onto a teat and feeds on the mother’s milk. After around five months , the joey will emerge from the pouch for the first time. For the following six weeks , the joey is weaned on pap, a pre-digested eucalyptus substance that is consumed directly from the mother’s anus.

After the weaning period, the joey lives on its mother’s back until it’s about one year old . The female koala reaches full maturity at age two , while males mature at three or four years old. Once mature, they find their own home ranges. Koalas live for up to 15 years in the wild.

Koalas help influence the growth and health of their eucalyptus forest habitats. Through their selective feeding habits, koalas shape the composition of the forest’s vegetation, promoting the growth of certain eucalyptus species over others. This has a knock-on effect on the entire ecosystem, influencing the abundance and diversity of other plant and animal species. Plus, by consuming eucalyptus leaves, koalas help control the dried leaf debris on the forest floor, lowering the likelihood of intense fires that can devastate ecosystems.

Eucalyptus trees are efficient carbon dioxide absorbers, so by maintaining the health of eucalyptus forests, koalas indirectly contribute to carbon sequestration, which helps mitigate global warming and climate change.

What is a koala’s scientific name?

The koala’s scientific name is Phascolarctos cinereus . Phascolarctos comes from the Greek words phaskolos , meaning ‘ pouched ’, and arktos , meaning ‘ bear ’. Cinerus is a term of Latin origin that describes ashy grey .

Their common name, koala, is thought to come from the Dharug people, from a term meaning ‘no water ’. This is likely because koalas are rarely seen drinking water, as they get most of their hydration from eucalyptus leaves. They are only known to drink water during drought or when eucalyptus is unavailable, such as after a wildfire.

Although they are commonly called koala bears, koalas are not bears. They are marsupials and the only member of the Phascolarctidae family. When Europeans settled in Australia, they mistakenly called them bears due to their physical resemblance to bears.

Are koalas endangered?

The IUCN Red List classifies it as a vulnerable species, only one classification above endangered.

However, as of February 2022 , the Australian government has listed the koala as endangered.

Unfortunately, their population is decreasing .

Where do koalas live?

Koalas are found exclusively in Australia’s tall eucalyptus forests and low eucalyptus woodlands. They’re found more specifically in eastern and southeastern Australia, in Victoria, South Australia, Queensland, and New South Wales.

Koalas face an array of threats that jeopardize their survival in the wild. From habitat loss and climate change to hunting and disease, these once-abundant marsupials are now confronting challenges that demand our urgent attention and conservation efforts.

Habitat loss

One of the main threats to the survival of koalas is the loss of their natural habitat. Human activities, including land clearing, urbanization, and logging, have destroyed vast tracts of eucalyptus forests where koalas are found. As human settlements expand and industries encroach further upon koala habitats, these marsupials find themselves with a smaller range and fewer food sources.

As a result of habitat loss, koala populations are forced into more fragmented areas. Fragmentation not only reduces the available eucalyptus trees but also isolates populations, hindering genetic diversity and increasing the vulnerability of koalas to other threats.

Koalas have historically been hunted for their fur. Between 1888 and 1927, it’s estimated that at least eight million koalas were killed specifically for the global fur trade.

Their fur is well adapted to protect them from the elements while they sleep in the trees. Their waterproof, durable coats were desirable for making hats, gloves, and coat linings.

While hunting koalas is no longer a widespread practice, some human- and pet-caused koala deaths still occur. The Australian Koala Foundation reports that due to a loss of habitat and the proximity of human populations to the koala’s natural habitat, approximately 4,000 koalas are killed each year by vehicle collisions and dogs.

Climate change

Koalas are one of the 10 animals most vulnerable to climate change , according to the IUCN Red List. As CO2 levels in the atmosphere increase, the nutritional quality of eucalyptus leaves decreases. Since eucalyptus is their sole food source, this leaves koalas at severe risk of malnutrition and starvation.

Climate change is also leading to much hotter and drier weather. As a result, eucalyptus leaves are drying up and failing to hydrate koalas. This has led to koalas leaving the safety of their eucalyptus trees to seek other water sources. Heat waves can be fatal for koalas and many other species. The expected increase in the frequency of heat waves in Australia, thanks to climate change, makes it much more difficult to maintain koala populations.

Beyond a lack of food sources and available water, changing weather patterns and drier habitats can also lead to a higher incidence of wild bushfires. This puts koalas at risk of death from the bushfires themselves, and if they do survive, it further shrinks the size of their habitat.

It is quite commonly known that koalas are affected by chlamydia. Chlamydia is a sexually transmitted bacterial infection that can cause blindness and infertility in koalas, among other serious health issues. Sometimes, contracting chlamydia can be fatal for koalas. The prevalence of chlamydia among koala populations is exacerbated by stressors such as habitat loss and climate change, making koalas more susceptible to infections.

What do koalas eat?

Koalas eat eucalyptus leaves, which provide their primary source of nutrition and water. They’re known to consume the leaves of several eucalyptus species, but they can be particularly selective in their choices, preferring certain types.

How much does a koala eat per day?

Koalas graze on eucalyptus throughout the day and night, consuming a total of 1.3 kilograms of leaves each day.

How many koalas are left in the world?

Estimates vary, but it’s thought that there are between 100,000 and 500,000 koalas remaining in the wild.

Are koalas only in Australia?

Koalas are native to Australia and are only found in the wild in Australia’s eucalyptus forests and woodlands.

How long do koalas sleep?

Koalas can sleep for up to 20 hours per day. They’re nocturnal animals, meaning they’re most active at night and around dawn and dusk.

Could koalas go extinct?

Koalas are expected to go extinct in New South Wales, Australia, by 2050 . With vulnerable and decreasing populations , the species could certainly go extinct without extensive conservation efforts.

If they were to go extinct, the health of eucalyptus forests would suffer. Koalas look after their habitat’s ecosystem by controlling plant growth, enriching the soil with their scat, and reducing the amount of eucalyptus leaves that could fuel wildfires.

The IUCN Red List classifies koalas as vulnerable . However, the combined population of koalas in Queensland, New South Wales, and the Australian Capital Territory was listed as endangered by the Australian government in February 2022.

What are baby koalas called?

Baby koalas are called joeys.

How long do koalas live?

In the wild, koalas can live for an average of 15 years . Female koalas have been known to live slightly longer than males, reaching 18 years old .

IFAW is actively engaged in efforts to conserve and protect koalas and the trees they call home. 

Throughout Australia’s east coast, we rescue, rehabilitate, and release koalas, with our projects involving community engagement, landscape conservation, and policy work to ensure koalas’ long-term welfare and conservation.

This includes collaboration with various partner organizations, including Friends of the Koala and Mosswood Wildlife to help treat hundreds of koalas each year, as well as Koala Clancy Foundation and Bangalow Koalas to restore wildlife corridors for koalas and other animals and the University of the Sunshine Coast’s Detection Dogs for Conservation to find and rescue sick or injured koalas and carry out koala health and habitat surveys. 

The IFAW team helps seek out sick koalas infected by potentially fatal diseases like chlamydia to treat them and get them back to full health. They’re also on the ground with our partners to rescue and rehabilitate koalas impacted by bushfires . This is especially important as koalas are particularly susceptible to bushfires, which are increasing in frequency and intensity due to climate change.

One of the main threats to koalas is habitat loss and fragmentation . Our work involves planting trees to help restore their habitat , reconnecting fragmented populations, and providing access to more food sources. Key to this work is addressing the root cause of habitat loss and advocating for better protections for koalas and the places they call home. This included IFAW taking the lead to call for koalas on the east coast to be up-listed to endangered after the catastrophic 2019-20 bushfires devastated already dwindling populations.  

We work with all levels of government to protect koala habitat from development and land clearing and encourage the implementation of stronger legislation to ensure koalas thrive into the future.

How can you help?

Koalas are a vulnerable species that need our help in protecting them against the threats of habitat loss, climate change, and disease. IFAW is working tirelessly to conserve their decreasing populations.

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Koalas are not bears—they’re marsupials. Learn about koalas’ unique traits, including six opposable “thumbs,” downward-facing pouches, and an ability to sleep nearly all day in tree branches.

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Related Resources

All About Koala Behavior

On Wildlife

December 2, 2020

Listen On: Spotify Apple Podcasts

How many hours do koalas sleep in a day? What’s their relationship like with each other? In this episode, Alex sits down Deborah Tabart from The Australian Koala Foundation to uncover the answers to these questions and more. Join Alex and Deborah as they go down under into Australia to learn about these magnificent marsupials: koalas.

“We have to start seeing animals as precious, to be protected [and] to not have any cruelty perpetrated on them. ” – Deborah Tabart

About Our Guest: Deborah Tabart

For thirty two years, Deborah Tabart OAM, has headed the Australian Koala Foundation. Her unequivocal commitment to her cause has earned her international recognition as the, ‘Koala Woman.’ She is committed to achieving her lifelong goal; to secure a future in which generations of nature lovers can experience the joy of seeing Koalas in the wild.

Organizations

• Australian Koala Foundation
• Koala Conservation Australia Inc.
• Australian Wildlife Conservancy
• Eucalyptus Leaves: More than a Delicacy for Koalas
• The human microbiome: why our microbes could be key to our health
• Life cycle of the Koala
• Could a koala live in Bay Area’s eucalyptus trees?
• Koalas with sharp teeth have a better sex-life
• Koalas Tooth Decay through its Abrasive Diet

Additional sound effects from Freesound .

Hello, welcome to on wildlife. I'm your host, Alex Re, on this podcast, we bring the wild to you. We take you on a journey into the life of a different animal every week. And I guarantee you you're gonna come out of here knowing more about your favorite animal than you did before. I'm so pumped for this week's episode because I got to sit down with Deborah to Bart, the head of the Australian koala foundation. So get ready because we're heading down to Australia to talk about koalas.

Unknown Speaker

So koalas are unique because they're only found in Australia. They grow to be a little under three feet tall, and they can weigh over 30 pounds. Even though they're called koala bears, they're not actually bears. They're marsupials. Some other animals that are marsupials are kangaroos and possums. They all keep their young in pouches to help them develop. That's what makes them a marsupial. And this makes it interesting because koalas are only pregnant with their young for 35 days. They give birth and the baby that's called a Joey has to climb from the birth canal into their pouch. koalas spend most of their time in trees, and they have a few adaptations that give them an advantage there. For example, they have opposable thumbs on their front paws, which helped them grip onto trees. And they also have really sharp claws, which also helped with climbing. And even though they seem lazy, they actually have really strong arms and legs. And that helps them with climbing as well. You'll notice something really weird. If you look at their paws, two of their toes are actually fused together. This is meant for grooming purposes, and it helps them keep their fur clean. And just when you thought koalas weren't unique enough, they also have their own fingerprints just like people. And they spend around 20 hours a day sleeping, and the rest of their time usually goes to eating. They're herbivores, so they only eat plants. And specifically, they usually only eat one type of plant, the eucalyptus plant. So koalas are pretty picky about the plants that they eat. There are over 600 different species of eucalyptus, but koalas will only eat around 60 species. And the eucalyptus is really interesting because it's actually poisonous to most other organisms. And in my interview with Deborah, we're going to touch upon how koalas have adapted to digest these plants. And they don't drink much water because they get most of their water from the leaves of the plant quality are actually really sharp. And this is because they have to spend a lot of their time grinding down those leaves. And because Eucalyptus is poisonous, their teeth were down really easily. Sometimes scientists can predict how long koalas will live just by looking at their teeth. And there have also been studies that show that male koalas that have worn down teeth a little bit but not too much are able to reproduce with females more frequently. And now I want to talk about koala census because they don't have the best vision. But they do have some other really strong senses that are keys to their survival. First of all, they have really good hearing. You can just tell this by looking at how large their ears are compared to their head. Sometimes koalas can live far away from each other, so their sense of hearing can come in handy when they're trying to communicate with other individuals. The most common sound that these animals make is called the bellow. It's really loud and males can bellow to show dominance. They also have a great sense of smell, which can be used in a lot of different ways. Male koalas have scent glands on their chest that they rub against a tree. And this could be a way for the males to mark their territory. Another way that they can use their sense of smell is to determine which leaves they can eat. Because Eucalyptus is so poisonous, koalas can smell the leaf before they eat it to see how toxic it is. Okay, we're gonna take a break. And when we get back, I'm sitting down with Deborah to Bart to talk about koalas and Australian wildlife in general. You don't want to miss it.

Time for a trivia question. Here's an open ended one for you. Why do leaves change their color in the fall?

The answer is they stopped making chlorophyll which is found in the chloroplast of a plant cell and helps absorb sunlight to do photosynthesis. chlorophyll is what gives the plants their green color. So when they stop making it the leaves lose their pigmentation.

Okay, so we're back. I hope you enjoy my interview with Deborah. Hi, Deborah. How are you?

Deborah Tabart

I'm well, thanks, Alex.

Good. I'm really happy to have you on the podcast. And I really can't wait to hear what you have to say about koalas. So first, just tell us a little bit about yourself and how you became interested in koalas?

got approached by the board of the Australian qualification in 1987, who said that they wanted someone like me to join them, they were only two years old. There were $17,000 in the bank 89 members, some of whom were Americans. So I started in February of 88. But you could not do this job for 32 years, which I have, unless you absolutely love the environment. And like I love all creatures, great and small. So the koalas, I am thrilled to be a koala woman, you know, that's over the years people go, Oh, you're that koala woman. So I'm happy to have that. You know, it probably wouldn't be as nice to be the one that woman but yeah, so I think the qual is such a fantastic species to really gauge people as we know. So I just love coming to work every day, even after all this time. And I think it's taken me that long to understand a lot about the animal, but also the problems, and then the solutions. So it's it's been a great journey.

That's, that's great. And can you talk a little bit more about the Australian koala foundation? And kind of your mission there?

Yep. So when I first got my job, you know, I was just told raise money. And we were going to sort of fund universities and stuff like that, which we did. And so raising money for koalas was pretty simple. We, you know, we, you're too young to remember a man called Ken dime, but he used to make these beautiful t shirts. And he Duke was on them. And so I went to him and said, Can you give me some money? You know, and he gave me $10,000, you know, so it was like that $2 here $5. And running a charity sort of funny in a way. But what happened, and we started to raise money, and we started to fund universities. But what would happen, and you could imagine that Australia is like a huge like America. So koala habitat goes basically from Vancouver, to the Mexican border, you know, and almost like the size of California, and I know Oregon, it's a huge landscape is 1.5 million square kilometers. Enormous. So. So when you're trying to protect that match, you can imagine every single person like in LA, so Deborah, you got to come and say these qualities or San Diego or Oregon and you go right off, you know, so. So then I started to realize that it isn't just a scientific document. It's about cars and dogs and roads and disease and cutting down trees. It's so complicated. So I'd only been in the job about four years, when I suddenly said, we have to have maps, we have to have a map of Australia that says this is koala habitat, and this isn't. And then we had to put sort of all the cities over it. So if you can imagine, California and Washington State, all that sort of stuff. From that distance, we now have maps. And I thought it would take like two years to do that it took 23 years, oh my god, that's getting $15 million cheaper. So those maps, you know, in America, we want to Smithsonian middle for those maps in 1998. So, and those maps are pretty accurate. So now when a development or a mine or coal mine or road, you can actually sort of understand the implications by using those maps and, and on our website, you can actually have a look at them. And so one of the greatest achievements for the foundation. So then between 1988 and now, then people ask me come to this part of the country, come here, come and have a look. So I have driven pretty much this whole landscape over those 32 years. So I've just seen it all trees coming down. Dogs kill them, then they're starving to death, then a road goes through is pretty tough stuff. And then also I've worked out that it's legal, you know, the environment laws are just not strong enough. And even if they have been strong enough, then you have some politicians who come in and go, I don't like those laws. I'm getting rid of them. You know, I'm gonna go and do this now. And so I'm proud The stage of my life where I'm committed to bigger laws, not just Australian laws, but I want to see international laws that says, All creatures on this planet need to be protected. Like we have, you know, crimes against humanity. There should be crimes against creatures great and small. So that's my bigger picture goal. But on the way, I've had an awful lot of koalas teach me a lot, you know, yeah, because it's amazing when you wind them in the bush and the other animals. I was in the bush for the last two days. So

I've had a great time.

That does sound really amazing. And you guys, obviously are doing such awesome work. So now, let's start talking a little bit more about koalas. So yeah, koalas are known to spend a lot of their time in the trees. So what features Do they have that kind of allow them to stay up there for so long?

Yeah. Well, like all species, you know, they're adapted over millions of years. And they've established this ecological niche up in the in the hydrate so and they this unbelievably unpalatable diet same as the Panda, Panda. It's bamboo, you know. And then the quad is two, two, but what our research has shown and looking the first couple of years, you know, while I was starting to figure it out, we radio tracked 15 koalas, and it was fascinating. And normally scientists go, we're not going to name these animals in and people like Dian Fossey and Jane Goodall, were really the first scientists who said, I'm going to make these animals real, you know, call them names, instead of just numbers and become sort of like a scientific thing. So on this site, there were 15 animals, and there was one called, we called him at Arnie Schwarzenegger because of his big, strong in whatever. And so we watched how he interacted with all the females and stuff like that. So it looked like he's dead. So the first koala was named 501, because that was his radio frequency. And he was a very old koala. And then we call him Levi for after the jeans, and I was hoping they might give me some money, you know, because, believe it anyway, 501 is dear in my heart. And so if you can imagine a piece of bush bit of forest, and he is the head, man. And then there's females, and there's young males, and there's young babies, and there's Joey's and there's the old boy. So we watched all that. And you could see it's very structured. So Annie, was given that territory by his father, 501. Murray and Lulu, two females, you know, they're all having babies. And we didn't know exactly who the fathers was. But definitely one was on is that Lulu, we actually saw her have a baby to Annie, Joey. And then she keeps that very close to her, she stays in the trees and the boys come to her basically. But we did watch this female swim across the river. And then she had went to bed with Dennis. And then she had a baby to Dennis a joing. And what we could see was that she's got both males completely confused. This is my Joey. So she gets access to both habitats. And in that habitat, there is almost like a five star menu, you know, so there's, there's trees that are really dominant, like, like meat, like a piece of steak, potatoes, vegetables, or salad, some soup, you know? So the koalas have about 10 species that they have to have to keep healthy. And what happens is, when you fragment habitats and cut them down, you might end with them eating up one species like potato, or pays, or just a salad. So as the habitats get diminished, so does their health. So we learned all this from those koalas. And I think of them every day, you know, I just do and so everywhere I go, I can say, you know, we've seen a male there, chances are, he's not going to let a big male anywhere near him. So they'll always be a little female, and then she might have a boyfriend down the road and whatever. So that's what I find fascinating. And I went on one of the islands recently, and we, you know, tracked koalas are just looking for them. And you can almost predict how they're going to be. It's like, that's mom, that's Dad, this is the kids and they're all related.

We're pretty excited. That's really cool. So they kind of have like a very complex social structure between them, which is something you just don't think about.

No, all animals do. Yeah. And this is the thing about us humans were so bloody egocentric because then we just think, Oh, you know, that's koalas Did you know roadkill as they call it in Australia, and you know, but these are families. And so one of the things that Because the biggest thing I had in my career when I was younger, was that everyone said, Oh, you know, she's too passionate. She's too caring about them. But if you don't think of them as the welfare of that family, so you start breaking up family structures, then you have declines. So yeah, it's, and of course, the scientists haven't written this up. So unless it's in the literature, someone like me talking can often be diminished. Because listen to my dog, Charlie's is singing to the ambulance. Anyway. So the thing that makes me cross two is that here, we are saying we want to respect science. But some scientists are so busy gathering the data that they never write it up. So one of the things I'm proud of for the Australian qualification is that we feel to this my PR, Mr. You know, that you were talking to, I communicate this, she writes it up, then people like you can hear it and your podcast, people can hear it, we have to start seeing animals as precious to be protected, to not have any cruelty perpetrated on them. And not that somehow the progress is allowed. And, you know, I know you're in New Jersey, New Jersey, but when I leave New York City on a train, and see how much land that we've already damaged, that is buildings that are empty, it is time for us to start re looking at how we we humans live on this planet and leave the bush alone. If I was the president of the world, I would say not one more tree should go down. I'm sick of people going wild over that's unrealistic. No, it isn't. We've damaged we have done so much damage. And we all have to learn more lightly and live more lightly on this planet.

Yeah, and I think that that definitely starts with like, getting that information out there for the public to realize that these are living breathing animals that that are important, just as important as we are. So I that's that's really great. And you were you were talking a little bit about their eating habits. So do they, I they eat a lot of eucalyptus plants? Yep. Right. So and Eucalyptus is kind of toxic to other animals. So So how are they able to digest this? And and why do they?

Did they have an incorrect they've been adapted over millions of years. So you know, all the other animals had different parts of the forest. And so they have a long sequence in which it actually which is like a long digestive tract. So they eat this, but there's about 750 eucalypts in Australia, and the quality's in different parts of the country. So if you can imagine the quality in Victoria, ate like Mexican, the quality of New South Wales ate French, and then the quality in, in Queensland have American food, you know, so that the mums actually go, this is what we ate it so that you can see the Joey's going in the bush. Last week, there was a mum with a baby that was just the size of a tennis ball, basically. And it was just copying its mother picking up the load smelling it, you know, that looks delicious. Eight, eight. If you move that Joey across state borders, they don't do well because they don't know what they're eating. So it's soil type. It's rainfall. And as you go towards the desert, some of the leaves like in places like Queensland, which is rainforests and everything, the leaves look delicious, you feel like I can eat them. But as you go west into the desert lands, the length of like cardboard, so they've obviously been adapted, you know. So, you know, when I try and try and stop coal mines or something like that. They're usually in the desert type places. And so one day I drove out, and there was a koala, just eating this leaf that looked like a piece of cardboard. So, you know, this is the respect again, because everyone goes, Oh, well just move them and put them over here. You know, that's the classic developer, you know, I'm going to build here. I'll move them and that are present. Because I do believe that we can live amongst the environment. You know, I really don't.

Yeah, absolutely. I think that we need to really start learning how to adapt to the environments that other animals are already living in, because we don't want to take those habitats away. That's right. Well, okay, so do koalas have any natural predators at all?

Well, I don't when they're Joey's. I think we have go enters Do you know what to go in and looks like it's like a Komodo dragon. So this you know, great big lizard. They will eat them. And then you know, your listeners might like to have a look at that. The cold go enters. And then the rescue was down under, you know, one of those Disney movies. They called one of them, Joanna, Joanna, they go in. And so they're fantastic things. No cars, when, before white settlement, and we've got to remember that the Aboriginal people who lived on this continent have been here for 60,000 years. You know, it's mind numbing, really, isn't it? The, you know, the what man has is only been here since 1788, so about 250 years. And I personally believe there was millions of koalas when we came. And now I reckon there's less than 100,000. And in fact, the American President Hoover did actually stop the importation of first. So between 1890 and 1927, we have the manifests of 8 million koala skins that were sent to London in New York City for the furious. And any my book that's coming out next year, we've got a picture of a lady wearing like a beaver cake, you know, it's a koala cut. So I think they were in large numbers. I think that the Aboriginal people didn't take care of the bush and there was in the bush was, I can't even imagine what our country looked like, when we weren't here. We've done too much damage. And in my view, it's time for us to repair that damage. Absolutely.

And it's interesting to think about, like, what it was like, back before we had kind of settled everything and made it habitable for humans. So a time machine, Alex. Yes. I would love I would love that.

Yeah. Because, you know, when I was starting to, you know, think, look, I don't know what I'm doing here. You know, it's all very well to fund this university is over, I want to go and see people. So I did actually spend a lot of time in America, pretty much the 90s on and off. We have an office in New York City. And in Washington. I spent a lot of time in the West Coast, and looked at the Oregon forests and all those things. So the powerful hours, neither was the there was an owl that was very endangered. I forgotten now. But, you know, it's the same issues. It's like, and those redwoods 90% of the redwoods are gone. Yeah. So you think what the Avenue of the Giants look like when there was 100% of them there. I mean, it's it is it's so humbling. And, and as we destroy the environment, and we encroach on the animals in bats, and you know, COVID-19 came from a bet probably. And Paul little bats are so demonized. I mean, I'm in love with little bats. And I could talk to them at them forever. Because there's so cute. Oh, yeah. So the thing is, we've got to make sure that we live where we live, clean up our act, and let the animals get on with what they do best. And that's to create biodiversity.

Yeah, definitely. And so we've been hearing a lot in the news about the Australian wildfires. So So what impact has that had on the koala population?

Well, you know, what, there was just millions of hectares that were burned a bit like California. And you know, we lost 3000 houses in California last 19,000. So we need to put things in perspective. But these were the hottest fires ever. And they were like, hurricanes. They just watched a thing the other night, and you just can't believe how bad it was. Some of the habitats that were burnt, were empty of koalas. So we think less numbers of koalas died. But certainly Kangaroo Island, had a lot of koalas, you know, 10s of 1000s were killed. And I don't think you'll ever stop fires. But the fires are worse because of the fragmentation as they are in your country. I've been to Yellowstone and you know that you have fires there. We Mother Nature is not happy with us. And, and I just feel that all this extreme weather is the UN has basically said, the extreme weather events have doubled in the last 10 years and that they will again in the next 10 years. So I feel really sad that your generation is going to be bearing the brunt of that. So as when my book comes out next year, I want to inspire young ones, you have to understand how serious it is. And find solutions that are not created. There was a group of people in America called the buyer and he is and I really encourage you maybe to interview them. They're out of Colorado, and they said the problems of the future will never be solved by the people who created and I heard that first in 1992 still gives me goosebumps. Yeah, so the thing is, you know, and I'm an elder now, you know, I used to I wanted to stay young forever, but the thing is As elders have to help you guys to understand the complexities and what you can do, because really Mother Nature is so smart, that she will respond accordingly. I really believe if you take the pressure off, that we just relentlessly apply this pressure. We do. And it's shocking.

Yeah. And there have been places where we've sort of enacted change already. And we've seen how Mother Nature responds very well to that change, and the environment can make a comeback. So it's, it's definitely not too late for us to start acting.

I agree. And it's like when they reintroduced the walls, you know, and all of a sudden, you know, they were controlling the deer and then waterways started getting because the deer weren't in there. I mean, when when I say the poor, old wolves demonized in your country, we don't really have that we have dingoes, but nothing like that main predator. It's just a no brainer once you understand it, but we've all got closed minds. And I've met some amazing, you know, farmers in the United States. You know, that I could make everyone laugh. You know, I remember this cattlemen said to me that food is vegetable side food, food eats vegetables. But I think it's fantastic that your generation is becoming vegan and vegetarian and much more respectful of the food we ate, and how the landscapes can be softened and less impact. So our country, we have marsupials, which have really soft pads, so anything with a hoof is not good for our landscape. But of course, you know, we all want to eat meat, we all want to have shape and all those things. So a lot of those industries are not going to be happy about maybe the changes that need to occur. But your generation will force it, because you've got this moral compass of, we don't want to see this cruelty anymore. So I do have a lot of hope, Alex, in a way. And I and that's why I stay in my job because I think the koala is a great flagship for conversations like this. You know, what I've learned from the koalas really gives you a holistic view of things.

Yeah. And I'm glad that you have hope that gives me hope, too. So this is going to be my last question. So we're talking a little bit about just enacting change. So koalas are facing a lot of issues right now. Their populations are kind of dwindling. So what can we do to help? Well,

I'm completely committed to new legislation. So and I copied it from the bald eagle act. So the bald eagle that came in in 1941. And 50 years later, the old vehicle was safe prior to that it was on its way to extinction. So really, and all they said was Doncaster strays down. So our act is that simple. There are a lot of people who don't want that. So we have a koala army. So your people might like to join our qualite army? Yeah, it's a lot of fun. I'm the commander in chief. And I love it, you know, middle of the hallway. And, and so we need people internationally to say you, Australia, you the Australian Government have to protect this species for us, for our grandchildren. Because it's a global thing. And, you know, if you think I'm doing a good job, we don't take any government money. So you can make a donation you can adopt a koala. But most importantly, Alex getting engaged, you know, watching you know, your country going to vote. Everyone's got to get engaged, engaged for the future. And it could be fun. If we all just go this is a dirty, great mess. We have to clean up let's all get to do it to do it. I believe that Mother Nature we're just getting behind us. I really don't.

Yeah, absolutely. And I think people don't really recognize the benefits of having all these amazing animals around us and and I want the future generations to be able to observe these in the wild, as well. There's just it's they're breathtaking. So, before you go, where can we find some information about the Australian koala foundation? Well, our

website is safe, the quality calm. I write a diary about once a month where I just say what I feel I'm seeing politically and any my country, the quality army sends out things that you can do. My book is coming out the quality Manifesto. I'd love people to buy that. And, you know, I think we try really hard to show that the koala forests of Australia protect millions of other species. So we've got this fantastic t shirt called the border of the bush, which has got a koala with all these animals intertwined in it. Thinking holistically. We've all got To get off Facebook, we've all got to stop thinking. I don't like that person because they think differently to me. Yeah, we have to expand our minds. Alex, your generation has to expand. One of the things that I can annoy people is that I'm constantly inquisitive, more inquisitiveness? Where do I fit in? How could I make life better? Do I recycle? I am so sick of seeing your generation talking about conservation, but roaming around with a plastic cup. Yeah, you know, take a keepcup all these simple things, simple things, if 7 billion of us did that, then it wouldn't be a simple thing, it would be a massive thing. And so it's personal responsibility, and live it every day, not just one day.

Yeah. And and you definitely brought up an important point about really like, looking at other people's viewpoints and saying, I respect your viewpoint, and I'm going to try to work with you and and we can make a compromise and come up with something together.

I really believe that's true. And, and I've been guilty of this when I was young, it was my way of the highway. And a lot of the time, especially when you're a mum, you know, go to bed, there was a doc. But I think that it is time for discourse. But I also think it's time for action. And I want a koala Protection Act. I am sort of too old in a way to think I can educate the developers or the miners anymore. It's now time to decent laws that says, you have to do this properly. You can't cut corners. And if you the community don't want it. We need laws that says I am allowed to stop you. And American laws are actually pretty good. I learned a lot of what I know, from American lawyers. But you know, some companies just think they're above the law. And they're not.

Yeah, yeah. That's great. Oh, Deborah, thank you so much for coming on today. I'm so glad you were able to share your knowledge about koalas with all of us and and the environment. That was great. And everyone please go check out the Australian koala foundation. So thank you. Thank you, Alex. That interview was so great. And I don't know about you, but it made me want to go out and make some change to help our environment. If you're inspired to help koalas, you should definitely go check out the Australian koala foundation. Also some other organizations that are dedicated to helping koalas and Australian wildlife, our koala conservation Australia Inc. and the Australian wildlife Conservancy. Thank you so much for coming on this adventure with me as we explored the world of koalas. You can find the sources that we used for this podcast and links to organizations that we [email protected] wildlife.org and that's on wildlife.

Jess Avellino

You've been listening to on wildlife with Alex brought to you every Wednesday.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai

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Coming to Alabama: Newsom’s Abortion-Access Ad, Depicting an Arrest

The ad portrays a woman trying to leave the state to have an abortion. The Campaign for Democracy, a political action committee started by Mr. Newsom, the California governor, created it.

• Share full article

By Neil Vigdor

• April 21, 2024

A woman nervously peers into her rearview mirror as a patrolman activates his car’s lights and sirens. She is less than a mile from leaving Alabama to seek abortion services, but it’s too late: The next thing she knows, she is being handed a pregnancy test and is handcuffed.

The encounter is depicted in an unvarnished new television ad called “Fugitive.” The Campaign for Democracy, a political action committee created by Gov. Gavin Newsom, Democrat of California, produced the ad.

It will appear on Monday in Alabama, where Republicans have called for prosecuting women who travel elsewhere for an abortion. The state’s abortion ban, one of the nation’s strictest, outlaws the procedure at all stages of pregnancy, with no exceptions for rape and incest.

“Trump Republicans want to criminalize young Alabama women who travel for reproductive care,” the ad’s narrator says.

The ad then shows the patrolman approaching the vehicle: “Miss, I’m going to need you to step out of the vehicle,” he says, tapping the kit on the driver’s side door, “take a pregnancy test.”

The ad is scheduled to run on broadcast and cable television, along with digital platforms like YouTube, for two weeks, according to the PAC. The cost of the ad buy was not immediately available.

Alabama’s attorney general, Steve Marshall, a Republican, has clashed with the Justice Department and abortion assistance providers over whether the state has the authority to prosecute individuals or groups that help women leave the state to have the procedure.

Last month, Republicans introduced a bill in the Alabama House that would make it a misdemeanor to harbor or transport a minor to seek abortion services.

Mr. Newsom has emerged as a key surrogate for President Biden while harboring future White House ambitions of his own. He has regularly skirmished with G.O.P. governors and Republican-led states over abortion access, immigration, crime and other issues.

While Republicans have seized on crossings at the southern border in their messaging, Democrats have harnessed the issue of abortion-access after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. It helped propel Democratic candidates to key victories during the midterm elections in 2022 and in races last year.

In February, the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos were people with rights, casting a cloud of uncertainty over in vitro fertilization. The state later passed a law giving I.V.F. clinics criminal and civil immunity, but it did not address whether embryos have the legal status of human beings.

In another seismic ruling, the Arizona Supreme Court this month upheld an 1864 law that bans nearly all abortions. The decision could have far-reaching consequences for women’s health care and election-year politics in the state, a critical political battleground.

Mr. Newsom said in a social media post at the time that California, which borders Arizona, would provide a refuge for women affected by the decision.

“Arizona wasn’t even a state — it was a territory — when this draconian abortion ban was passed,” he said. “That’s how extreme this is. California remains ready to help Arizonans access reproductive health care.”

Neil Vigdor covers politics for The Times, focusing on voting rights issues and election disinformation. More about Neil Vigdor

What to know about American avocet bird, spotted at Bradford Beach in Milwaukee

It might not feel warm enough, but it's beach season for the American Avocet. The migratory bird has been spotted on Bradford Beach as recently as Thursday in the late morning.

According to the Milwaukee County Zoo , the American avocet is a long-legged shorebirds with long, thin bill that curves upward. It has black and white stripes on their backs and sides.

Are American avocets native to Wisconsin?

The American avocet spends winter along the coast of North American, including Mexico, Florida, Texas and California. It migrates to the southern and western U.S. to breed. It's uncommon to see the bird in Wisconsin, according to the American Audubon Society .

How can you identify American avocets?

Beyond it's striking color, the bird is relatively small, roughly 9.7 to 12.3 ounces.

Also the beak is a unique giveaway at what bird it is. The avocet is one of the few species with an upturned bill.

What do American avocets eat?

It eats crustaceans and other aquatic animals, and plants. They swoop with their long bills back and forth in the water to catch insects, and other water crustaceans.

Are American avocets solo or do they travel in groups?

When there's one, there's more. They can travel in flocks of several hundred.

Should you approach American avocets?

No. These birds are in the middle of a long migration and stopped on the beach to rest. All the attention by humans, who often get way too close, adds stress to the birds. Hilton Head Audubon, an environmental and wildlife advocacy group, advises birdwatchers to stay at least 100 feet away from the birds because when shorebirds fly away, they are giving up more than their food, rest and energy. It actually shortens their life.

The Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin is raising awareness for this issue with birds in its Fat Bird Week , which highlights how migrating birds need to "bulk up" for long journeys.