Australia is the only place on the planet whereKoala lives - an unusual marsupial animal, similar to a funny teddy bear. It is impossible to confuse it with another living being, it is so unique.
Koala: appearance
This is a small animal belonging to the familymarsupials, weighing from 7 to 16 kg. The koala is easily recognizable by its large, broad head, on which a large nose with a black back, fur-covered ears and small eyes stand out.
Thick, gray colored coat short, soft,slightly darker on the back and lighter in the abdomen. This animal spends its whole life on a tree, therefore its limbs are very strong, adapted to grasping a tree during climbing. This helps and sharp, long claws that can withstand the weight of the animal. Until now, scientists can not decide who is the koala - a bear, a raccoon or someone else. In zoos where koalas live, there is always a large gathering of people willing to look at these amazing and unusual little animals.
Habitat
These marsupials live only insoutheastern Australia and neighboring islands. Many years ago, they inhabited the entire continent, but with the advent of immigrants were ousted from their ancestral places. The natives treat this animal with great respect. According to ancient legend, it was the giant ancestor of koalas that helped people get to this continent.
Леса, где живет коала, в основном влажные tropical and subtropical. Usually, these animals settle near water, where many eucalyptus grows. The leaves of this plant are the only food that the koala consumes. In the eucalyptus crowns, the marsupial bear spends almost all his life, descending only to move to other thickets.
Feeding a marsupial bear
Рацион коалы не отличается разнообразием.These are exclusively leaves and young shoots of eucalyptus. These parts of the plant contain a small amount of protein and a lot of toxic compounds, including hydrocyanic acid. It has been established that in the daily portion of leaves eaten by a koala there is such an amount of poison that can kill any other animal. This is probably why neither predators nor hunters are interested in koalas as prey.
These animals choose the most suitable forEucalyptus species, preferring those trees that grow on more fertile soils. In their leaves, the concentration of poison is much lower. It helps the animals to find the necessary plants, their developed sense of smell. In captivity, there is no such choice, which can even threaten with poisoning. An interesting fact is that, dwelling in a certain part of the continent, the animals only feed on the leaves of trees growing near their “home”. That is why very carefully teach this animal to a new diet in the zoo, where koalas live. A country located on another continent is forced to import for the first time leaves for the animal from the area from which it was brought. Up to 1 kg of leaves is required per day. Water this animal practically does not drink at all. He has enough moisture from the succulent leaves.
Koala features
This animal has some interestingfeatures that make it truly unique. The papillary pattern on his fingerprints can hardly be distinguished from a human one. Even quite large parents, whose weight is not less than 8 kg, the calf is born completely tiny, the size of beans and a mass of only 6 g. It grows up already in a well-developed leathery fold, located on the mother's stomach and resembles a bag.
There is a baby there for six months, eatingmother's milk. Then he moves to the back of the parent. Where the koala lives, there are no tree predators that pose a threat, so that this animal is always very slow and calm.
The life of a marsupial bear
This animal is able to sleep right on the branches up to 20hours a day, only at night moving through the trees, getting food. Such immobility is explained by too slow metabolism in this animal, which is why the need for energy is greatly reduced. For several hours koalas can be in complete immobility.
But at the moment of danger, they are able to make great jumps and move about quite quickly, including in the water.
With their slowness and inactivity, these animals even more resemble a soft toy. Such a funny appearance captivates people, and they gladly tame animals.
And then it doesn’t matter where the koala lives, in what country, it adapts very easily, becoming a domestic and friendly animal.
Marsupial animals
Australia is a famous countrythere are unusual animals, quite unlike those that we used to see in our homeland. They differ not only in appearance, but also have a special body structure. The country where the koala lives is famous for other marsupial animals. All of them are united by a fold of skin on the stomach, resembling a bag. It is there that the females carry their babies for several months until they grow up. But even the kids who have grown up and are able to move on their own for a long time do not part with their mother's bag.
Another very famous marsupial animalis a kangaroo. It is known to all since childhood. A normal herbivore similar to a bear is called a wombat and can reach a size of up to a meter and weigh about 40 kg. Quite a beautiful small animal - marsupial anteater nambat, eating termites. On the verge of extinction is a very rare animal of the marsupial family - spotted marten. This is a predator that feeds on small animals - mice, rabbits, birds, etc. Still, most of all Australia is famous as a country where koalas and kangaroos live. They can rightly be considered the hallmark of this continent.
