Which country's national treasure is the koala? With a full picture gallery
The koala is actually what we call the koala; it has a sturdy build, looks much like a little bear, and has a thick, soft coat of dense gray-brown short fur, while the fur on its chest, belly, inner limbs and inner ears is grayish-white, making it look soft and adorable, very cute. The impression it often gives people is of clinging to a tree, looking lazy. So which country's national treasure is the koala? With a full picture gallery.
1. Which country's national treasure is the koala?
The koala is a marsupial species endemic to Australia, the national treasure of Australia, and also a peculiar, precious, primitive tree-dwelling animal of Australia, belonging to the marsupial order Phascolarctidae within the mammals. In the whole world it is found only in the low-altitude, sparse eucalyptus forests of Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria in eastern Australia.
2. Little facts about the koala
1. It eats poisonous leaves
The koala eats 450 grams—900 grams of eucalyptus leaves every day. Eucalyptus leaves are not only poisonous, but also very hard and difficult to digest, and the nutrients they contain are extremely few. But the koala's digestive system has evolved to be especially suited to digesting these leaves, allowing it both to absorb every bit of nutrition from them and to neutralize the toxins of the eucalyptus leaves.
2. A grumpy temper
Although the koala looks like a plush toy, if you want to go hug it, you will certainly regret it. They have long, sharp claws, extremely suited to climbing trees. When two male koalas fight over territory or a mate, their claws are used like daggers.
3. A good mother
When a koala is just born it cannot see anything, has no fur on its body, and is about the size of a candy bean. Over the next 6 months, the koala joey will stay obediently in its mother's pouch sleeping or nursing. Finally one day, the joey can poke its head out to eat the mushy food its mother has prepared for it.
After the joey leaves the pouch, the mother koala will carry her child on her back or let it hang on her belly when climbing trees, and personally demonstrate and teach it survival skills.
4. Habitat environment
The koala lives in various environments such as the islands off the eastern coast of Australia, tall eucalyptus forests, and inland lowland forests. However, millions of years ago, the koala's ancestors actually lived in tropical rainforests, and long-term evolution gradually led the koala to withdraw from its original habitat. Wild koalas will only appear in places suitable for them to live, and among these two important factors are indispensable: first, the place where they live must have tree species (including non-eucalyptus tree species) that koalas prefer to feed on and that can grow thanks to suitable soil and rainfall; second, other koalas must already have settled there.
The koala has several natural enemies in life, one of which is the Australian dog; when a koala walks on the ground to get from one tree to another, whether adult or young, it may be harmed by the Australian dog; while young koalas are sometimes attacked by eagles and owls; others such as wild cats, dogs and foxes are also natural enemies of the koala. A koala sleeps 20 hours a day, and of the other 4 hours, 2 hours are spent eating leaves and 2 hours staring blankly. Most koalas die from falls, because once they get old they can no longer grip the tree and fall down.