In south-eastern Australia, the Koori (local Aboriginal people) hunted and ate koalas, but never skinned them or used their fur in any way. Koories believed that koalas could control the water supply and that to skin a koala would make all the rivers and creeks dry up.

Although they are often referred to as ‘koala bears’, they are actually marsupials. The koala’s closest relative is the wombat, as they both have pouches which open towards the rear. This method of carrying the young is fine for the wombat, but koalas need strong muscles ringing the pouch to prevent their young from falling out.

The fur of the koala differs depending what parts of Australia they come from. In the southern parts of Australia it is longer and shaggier than those in the north, obviously due to the colder climate in the south.
 

A koala eats about half a kilogram of leaves every day and will only eat from a few varieties of eucalypt.  In Sydney, they eat red gums and mahoganies, whilst in northern areas of the State, they eat tallowwood and forest red gum, and in the south, manna gum. Koalas from the west prefer river red gum and ribbon gum. Koalas use a variety of other trees for shelter during the day and have been seen in trees including paperbark, acacia, she-oak, and brush box. The koalas on Phillip Island eat Manna Gum, Swamp Gum and Blue Gum.

During the night digestion occurs in the koala’s stomach. Acids and enzymes break down the sugars and proteins. Poisons within the leaf are freed and sent to the liver to be detoxified and passed out with bile and urine. The digestion continues on within the small intestines, where the fats and nutrients are absorbed into the bloodstream. At the end of the small intestine a sieve-like structure allows smaller particles and fluids through to the caecum, a long thin tube, like an appendix, that branches out from the intestines. This tube grows to a length of two metres.

The caecum is where the micro-organisms (bacteria) process the fibrous parts of the leaves. The end product provides the koalas with about 10% of its energy needs. The food may stay in the caecum for 100 hours or more. What remains, with any larger particles, passes directly through to the colon. It is here that all the remaining water is absorbed and the remains passed out in the form of dry, pellet-shaped faeces.

BREEDING
Female koalas can breed from about two years of age. Mating occurs during November to February in the south, September to January further north. Gestation takes about 35 days, with the appearance of a single tiny young, blind and hairless. The newborn crawls from the cloaca to the pouch and attaches itself to one of two nipples to complete its development. At one month it is about one centimetre long.

The cub temporarily leaves the pouch at about five and a half months, and then permanently at about eight months. It clings to its mother’s back or stomach, sticking it’s head into the pouch to feed. During weaning period the cub eats partially-digested eucalyptus that merges from the mother’s cloaca, receiving the bacteria that is needed for digestion as well as food.

When the young koala is about one years old, the mother is able to mate again.

NOISES
Koalas communicate with each other by making a noise like a snore and then a belch, known as a ‘bellow’. The koala mating sounds range from the pig-like grunts and growls of the males, to the high pitched trembling sounds of the females.

PREDATORS
Young koalas are hunted by large birds of prey. They are occasionally taken by eagles, goannas and owls. Dingoes will also kill koalas, however, humans are their worst enemies, with many killed on the road.

CONSERVATION
In many areas the koala is threatened with the loss of its habitat, that provide shelter, protection and food. Declared a vulnerable species under the Threatened Species Conservation Act, many voluntary conservation organisations, along with the local Parks and Wildlife services have strategies in place to reverse the situation, such as planting of food trees such as those in Port Macquarie and Lismore.