A date with the koalas
TANUSHREE PODDER
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At the Koala Conservation Centre, Phillip Island, Australia, you get to watch koalas in their natural habitat.
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PHOTO: TANUSHREE PODDAR.
AT HOME: Feeding on leaves and young shoots.
During my recent visit to Australia, one of the first things I did is to check out where I could see koalas since they are my favourite animals. My host took me to the Koala Conservation Centre at Phillip Island where I saw them for the first time in their natural bush-land habitat. At the Conservation Centre, there are hundreds of eucalyptus trees and a wooden walkway that allows visitors to walk through the forested area. I was looking for koalas all over but couldn't spot a single one. Then, our guide pointed to them on the trees. There were dozens of cute koalas of all sizes and age, clinging to the branches and sleeping. Most of us love teddy bears. A koala bear looks very much like a teddy bear. Maybe, that is why it has been called koala bear though it has nothing to do with the bear family. In fact, it is a mammal that is largely found in Australia. Koalas have a thick, soft fur, rounded ears, a large, hairless nose and no tail.
Koalas feed on leaves and young shoots of the eucalyptus trees and generally live on the trees. They hardly ever come down except to move from one tree to the other. Since their diet does not provide them with enough energy, they sleep almost the entire day and become active mainly during the night when they wake up to feast on the eucalyptus leaves. Most koalas sleep about 20 hours a day.
My guide told me that the koalas that live in the wild do not drink water, either. In fact, the word koala comes from an Australian Aborigine word meaning "no drink". Koalas, like the kangaroo, are marsupials. This means that the young koalas are carried in a pouch on the mother's belly until they become independent. This is also nature's way of protecting the young ones since the koala babies are tiny, and poorly developed creatures when they are born. A newborn koala baby is just about the size of a jellybean.
Near extinction
Being easy targets, the poor creatures were first hunted by European settlers for sport. And then they were killed for their fur. At the height of the fur trade, over two million skins were exported, mostly to North America. Then, the fur trade was banned in the 1930s but by then the Koalas were brought to near extinction in South Australia.
Now, of course, it is a protected species.
It was only when I visited the Cleland Wildlife Park in South Australia that I could spot koalas in action. The Cleland Park allows close human interaction with the koalas.
Since the koala has sharp, cured claws, long toes and a very strong grip, they made me wear a green jacket, which almost looked like the bark of a tree and gave me a baby koala to hold. It felt so soft and warm and cuddly just like a huge teddy bear. Only, this one was for real.
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