The Koala Essay, Research Paper

The Koala

Inroduction

The koala is the Australian jewel. It has very furry, ash colored

hair, a rubbery black nose, sharp claws, fuzzy ears, and a grizzly

personality, or should I say, koalality. If you kill a koala, you’ll make a

million off their fur! They would sell the fur to coat companies and make coats out of koala fur. Well, sadly enough, too many people are making

millions on koalas. That’s why they’re endangered species.

Habitat

The koala is distributed along the eastern coastal semi-tropical

forests of Australia, ranging from north Queensland, New South Wales,

Victoria, and a small area in the south of Australia.

Breeding

The male koala and the female koala have two very different

mating calls. When humans reach their sexual maturity at around the age of 14 or 15, koalas reach their sexual maturity at the age of two. The female produces one baby every other year. The koala almost never produces twins. In the female’s pouch, there are two nipples. The female koala gives birth after a 20-35 day gestation period. When the joey (baby koala) is born, it is no longer than 2 cm and weighs no more than a 1/2 gram. The joey stays in its mother’s pouch for 5-7 months. The term |joeyX is used when you are talking about a baby marsupial. The mother gives |papX to the joey, a liquid from the caecum (which is similar to the human organ, appendix.) This is thought to give the joey the ability to eat only eucalyptus leaves. When the joey emerges from the pouch, it clings to its mother for another seven months. The joey stays with its mother for another three or four years, until it is fully grown.

Diet

Koalas eat eucalyptus and don’t drink water. I guess that’s how they

got their name. In the aboriginal language, |koalaX means |no drink

water.X But, the koala does drink water, only when it is ill. Out of the 350

species of eucalyptus, the koala can only eat 20, will only eat 5, and only

prefers to eat a certain one.

Population and Extinction

Since the koala population has dropped since 50% since the turn of

the century, the Australian government passed a law banning anything

harmful to the koalas. At first, in the 1920’s they were killed for

their fur. Then, somehow, a high percentage of them became infected

with a very contagious disease, chlamydia psittaci. Chlamydia psittaci

causes blindness, pneumonia, and for females, sterilization. It has slowed down a lot since it was first introduced to the koala population, but the virus is still going around (chylamydia psittaci is an endangered virus.) The koala population is also still falling due to destroyed habitats. The developers are coming into koala habitat and cutting down eucalyptus, selling it and building homes. By the 2030’s, the koalas will have no place to live. Now, sadly, in Sydney, koalas must cross the street to get to another eucalyptus tree. They have to go to another eucalyptus tree every once and a while because that tree is the same tree from the same forest. A lot of koalas are now becoming roadkill.

General Information

The koala is a one of a kind animal. It is the only one of its kind.

There are two sub-species of koala though, in which there is the

tiniest difference. The southern one has a darker colored fur than the northern because it is colder in the south. The koala has only one relative, the wombat. Koalas and wombats share a common ancestor from some 25 million years ago on the landmass Lauasia (an ancient landmass that separated to make South America, Africa, and Australia.) Most people think that the koala is related to bears, that is not true, the koala is an aboreal (tree dwelling) bear. Most people also think that the koala is not harmful, that’s wrong. The koala is more like a grizzly bear than a teddy bear. The koala is dangerous because of its extremely sharp claws. Its scientific name is Phascolarctos (pouched bear)cinerus (ash-colored.) An adult four year old koala eats 1.3 kg. (3 lb.) of eucalyptus per day. It also weighs 13.6 kg. (30 lb.) and is 60-85 cm. (21-33 in.) The koala sleeps a lot. The koala is also nocturnal, that’s why the koala exhibit at the zoo is always boring. The eucalyptus that the koala eats is very important to them because if they change to a different forest, it could be fatal because they can usually only eat one species of eucalyptus.

Help the Furballs!

There are lots of ways that we can save the koalas. First of all, we

can stop cutting down the eucalyptus trees. Second of all, BRAKE FOR

KOALAS! Third, there are hundreds of save the koala associations world

wide. Another reason koalas are dying is because of fires. Most of these fires come from careless smokers. If you go to Australia one day and you see someone smoking, tell them to make sure that they put it out. There is a koala hospital in South Queensland that is building a 24-hour koala hospital. If you want more information on the Save the Koala Campaign, visit http://onthenet.com.au/ jbergh/koala1.htm. You can write the Australian Koala Hospital Assosiation, Inc. at [email protected] or snail mail them at The Australian Koala Hospital Assosiation, Inc.^P.O. Box 2379^Nerang Mail Centre^QLD 4211 AUSTRALIA. A lot of people are also going up and protesting against the developers that knock down the habitat of koalas.

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