Northern koalas are actually smaller and lighter than the southern ones. Koalas inhabit areas such as Queensland, Victoria and New south Wales. They have noticeable black raisin noses and big fluffy ears on their round faces. They are normally 24 - 33 inches long and weigh between 4 - 15kg.
Their common name comes from the language Dhurag. In this language there is a word Gula, which translates to no water. They are named this because natives originally thought that koalas could live without water, this is untrue. Koalas eat eucalyptus leaves which are high in liquid, meaning they can go for ages without going and drinking. Their scientific name is Phascolarctos cinereus, comes from the greek combination of pouch and bear and the latin of ash coloured.
They are not particularly social animals, spending an estimated 15 minutes around others. Males are quite territorial, a strange idea for such a cuddly animal. Males use scent marking as their way to claim trees, they will rub their chest glands against trunks and branches to get their scents on it. Koalas sniff trunks before climbing trees, so this is a good way to claim things.
There is so much more to learn about these amazing creatures, but I wanted to get to giving you links for donating to help save lives.
Wires - a wildlife rescue for Australian animals during the fires. Donate here: https://www.wires.org.au/donate/emergency-fund
Red cross - the main charity I wanted to mention here. They are doing such great work and I'm sure you've heard about it in the news. You can donate here: https://fundraise.redcross.org.au/drr?utm_source=instagram&utm_medium=socialorganic&utm_campaign=201913_drr_disaster-relief-and-recovery_don_transient_bushfires_none&utm_content=instagram-bio
Comments
Post a Comment