WHAT DO KOALAS EAT?

What do koalas eat? - https://bioweb.uwlax.edu/

Native to coastal areas of Australia's eastern and southern regions, the koala is an arboreal herbivorous marsupial, recognised by its stout, tailless body and large head with round, fluffy ears and large, spoon-shaped nose. They typically inhabit open eucalypt woodlands, and sleep up to 20 hours a day

Sleeping koala - http://animalstime.com/

When not asleep, a koala feeds on eucalyptus leaves, especially at night. Koalas do not drink much water as they get most of their moisture from these leaves. Each animal eats a tremendous amount for its size, about two and a half pounds (one kilogram) of leaves each day. This is because their eucalypt diet has limited nutritional and caloric content, hence their sedentary lifestyle.

A special digestive system (an unusually long gut) allows koalas to break down the tough eucalyptus leaves and enables them to avoid being harmed by their poison. Koalas eat so many of these leaves that they take on a distinctive odor from their oil, reminiscent of cough drops.

During the course of its evolution, the koala has developed functional cheek pouches for storing food and a digestive system able to cope with a diet based entirely on eucalyptus leaves.

Baby koala - http://darkroom.baltimoresun.com/

Out of over 100 or more species of eucalyptus tree which grow in Australia, the koala feeds on only 12, and then only on leaves that are at a particular stage in their development!

Koalas eat so much food that they can easily exhaust their food supply. Sometimes special measures have to be taken to move koalas into areas where food is more plentiful.

Incidentally, while baby koalas are brought up on a diet of milk for approximately 6 months, during the last month, the mother will begin to feed it with half digested food passed through her rectum. That's right, during weaning koala babies eats poop!

For related articles click onto the following links:
HOW TO GROW EUCALYPTUS FROM SEED
HOW TO GROW EUCALYPTUS GUNNII
HOW TO GROW EUCALYPTUS PAUCIFLORA subsp. NIPHOPHILA
HOW TO GROW THE RAINBOW EUCALYPTUS - Eucalyptus deglupta
HOW TO GROW THE TASMANIAN SNOW GUM - Eucalyptus coccifera
WHAT DO KOALAS EAT?