Captivated by the Cuddly Koala

By Awake! correspondent in Australia

ONE OF the most fascinating surprises in strange, unexplored lands in times past must have been the discovery of exciting and unusual animals. This was surely the case in Australia after the year 1788.

Back then, penal colonies around Port Jackson (now Sydney) were settled by convicts brought as prisoners from England to Australia. Ten years later, a freed convict who turned explorer set out for the southern highlands, 80 miles [130 km] inland. He had a pleasant surprise when he first saw the Australian koala. It was, he wrote, “another animal which the natives [Aborigines] call ‘cullawine,’ which much resembles the sloths in America.”

Would you like to examine this fascinating furry bundle that, two hundred years later, has become such a drawing card for tourists to the sunburned land down under? No doubt you would, for next to asking to see a kangaroo, one of the most frequent requests made by visitors to Australia is: “I must see and touch your cuddly teddy bear.”

Not Really a Bear

Without question, the koala is a cuddly little animal. It grows to be only some 30 inches [80 cm] long and does look like a teddy bear, with a button nose and soft, pretty fur. But you may be surprised to know that it is not of the bear family at all.

Oh, yes, it is frequently called a koala bear or Australia’s native bear. But these are all misnomers. Rather than being of the bear family, the koala most closely resembles a wombat, another Australian marsupial, which is much like a beaver.

The Australian Encyclopaedia paints a fascinating picture of this captivating and cuddly creature: “The koala has a stout body, thick woolly fur that is grey to brownish above and yellowish-white below, large rounded furry ears, and a leathery, expanded, almost trunk-like nose . . . The animal climbs very surely but is clumsy on the ground.”

When full-grown, koalas weigh about 30 pounds [14 kg]. They may live for some 20 years in the wild. Some have lived as long as 12 years in captivity.

Like the Australian kangaroo, the koala is a marsupial (from the Latin word marsupium, meaning “pocket” or “pouch”) and has the birth process unique to marsupials. Tiny when born, baby koalas are not yet fully developed and make their way unaided to the mother’s pouch, where they fix themselves to one of her two teats.

Six months later, the little fellow is a fully developed infant and is able to leave the pouch for short periods. But after another two months or so, he is just too big to get back in. Now what to do? No real problem! He rides on his mother’s back, hanging on for dear life as she climbs up and down trees.

However, these free rides cannot last forever, so after another five or six months, junior has to fend for himself. But for this short time, it is an appealing sight to see mother koala happily carrying her baby, which hangs on to her furry back. After leaving his mother, young koala now lives quite a solitary life and only contacts others during mating.

A Leafy Diet

The name koala is derived from an Aboriginal word that implies that the animal does very little drinking. But how can they exist without water? By taking in the dew and from moisture in their diet of gum leaves.

Gum leaves? Yes, koalas browse on some 50 different kinds of eucalyptus trees, but less than a dozen of these are their special favorites. Eucalyptus trees are more commonly known by the name gum, such as forest red gum, gray gum, and Tasmanian blue gum.

A full-grown koala eats a daily quota of about two or three pounds [1 kg] of leaves, chewing them leisurely but thoroughly. They spend most of their time high up in gum trees, coming down only to move to another tree. On the ground they have an awkward, ungainly walk.

Since they are nocturnal animals, most of their day is spent sleeping, perched precariously in the fork of a tree well above the ground. Uncomfortable? They don’t seem to think so, and the location affords excellent protection from any would-be predators.

Can They Be Tamed?

If obtained very young, koalas have been tamed, becoming affectionate pets. A couple in North Queensland raised such a pet from the time she was three months old. This tiny female “cub” cried every night until finally comforted by a piece of koala fur tied around a pillow and placed alongside her in a basket as a substitute for her mother. They named her Teddy, and until she was old enough to begin a solid diet of gum leaves, she thrived on cow’s milk, which she lapped up like a kitten.

The trouble was that Teddy got so used to humans that she hated being left alone and loved to be carried around like a child. She really became quite a nuisance. Her contented life stretched into 12 years. So, yes, koalas can be tamed, but it is now illegal in Australia to keep them as pets.

Decimated but Now Protected

At the turn of the century, koalas were so plentiful that millions of them were reported to be on the continent. But they were such easy targets, sleeping during the daytime in forks of eucalyptus trees, that thousands were shot just for sport.

Then, when demand arose for their soft, silver-gray fur, slaughter began in earnest. For example, in 1908 nearly 60,000 koala pelts were sold in Sydney alone. And in 1924 over two million furs were exported from the eastern states of Australia.

Happily, the Australian federal government realized the threat of extinction for this cuddly creature and in 1933 passed laws to prohibit export of koalas and koala products. The koala is now a protected animal.

Other countries have tried to keep koalas in their zoos but with poor success. The specialized diet of fresh eucalyptus leaves is difficult to maintain. However, success has been achieved in the American state of California, largely because the climate is suitable for growing eucalyptus trees. Now, zoos at San Diego and Los Angeles have healthy, thriving koala populations. More recently, koalas have been sent to Japan, where carefully studied methods are being used to ensure that they are kept healthy.​—See Awake!, August 22, 1986.

Will the Cuddly Koala Survive?

It seems that a common-sense approach to prevent wanton slaughter may increase its prospects for survival. Author Ellis Troughton concluded his book Furred Animals of Australia with this hopeful wish: “The fascinating koala is utterly harmless everywhere. What a keen delight for all if they were plentiful enough to haunt the homesteads and suburbs as possums often do! May their numbers miraculously increase to browse peacefully in sheltered forest reserves.”

Animal lovers everywhere echo this noble hope, not just for the cuddly koala but for all the beautiful creatures living with us on planet Earth that have been put here for our pleasure and enjoyment.

[Picture on page 16]

A full-grown koala eats about two or three pounds [1 kg] of eucalyptus leaves a day, chewing them leisurely but thoroughly