I am actually a Phascolarctos cinereus. This name is is derived from the Greek words phaskolos “pouch” and arktos “bear”. The specific name, cinereus, is Latin for “ash coloured”. However, the early settlers actually called me a Koala Bear, despite the fact that I am a marsupial ….
This morning we headed for a walk along the coast via Flynn’s Beach and Nobby’s Beach to the Sea Acres Rainforest reserve. Actually, rainforest is something of a misnomer at the moment as the forest hasn’t seen rain in a considerable time and was looking increasingly dry. Nevertheless, it was a lovely walk around a boardwalk identifying various of the rainforest trees – many of which we have seen elsewhere.
Then in the afternoon we headed to the Koala Hospital. Despite all the warning signs to beware of Koalas crossing, we haven’t seen a single one, so the only was to see them was to visit the hospital. Their services are always heavily in demand, but are particularly strained at the moment with the bush fires. Where a fire is not too intense, a Koala can survive by climbing to the top of the tree and waiting for it to cool down again, but the current fires are so intense they are often burning right to the crown of the tree and are likely to have a devastating impact on koala populations. This made it all the more interesting to see the work they did. They aim to release all the Koala back into the wild and keep detailed notes on where they find them to ensure they are returned to the same ‘home range’. Otherwise they would try to return there themselves – a dangerous activity. However, some cannot be released due to their illnesses or injuries so they do have a permanent population.
Koalas don’t often appear very active and they sleep for around 20 hours per day. This is because there are so few nutrients in the Eucalypt leaves which make up their diet that they need to work hard to conserve energy. It is thought that this is also the reason for them having one of the smallest brains in proportion to body weight of any mammal – that helps conserve energy. This is an excuse which I may try and use as well ……
Koalas are listed as Vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Threats are various and include disease and bushfires, but mostly relate to loass of their traditional habitat.