Koala
The koala is a well loved and iconic member of Australian wildlife, known best for lazing its days away in branches of trees, safe from ground dwelling predators.
When it comes to cuddles, koalas are pros
Koalas, like kangaroos, are marsupials. The ‘joeys’ are born underdeveloped and crawl quickly across the mothers fur and into their pouch where they suckle for 6 months on milk and ‘pap’, a liquefied form of the mothers faeces – this is definitely not cute but is a very clever way of passing on the essential micro-organisms needed to digest the highly toxic eucalyptus leave that form most of the adult koala’s diet.
Cute factor – Tree hugging
We all love a good hug, and when it comes to cuddles, koalas are pros, but there might just be some science somewhere in that snuggle.
Koalas don’t sweat, they pant and lick their fur to cool off, but when water is scarce and humidity is high during the hot Australian summer, cooling through evaporation is pretty inefficient.
Koalas don’t sweat, they pant and lick their fur to cool off, but when water is scarce and humidity is high during the hot Australian summer, cooling through evaporation is pretty inefficient.
Using thermal cameras, scientists found that hugging trees allows koalas to get rid of excess heat. By pressing the thinner abdominal fur against the tree trunk, and moving to the lower, cooler parts of the trunk in hotter weather, koalas are able to transfer heat to the tree and drastically reduce water loss.
