The Koala

Type of metabolism:

The koala presents a slow metabolism due to its lifestyle, food intake and
physical aspects. But it's necessary to its metabolism to be slow because
the food they consume has not a big nutritional value. They mainly
consume eucalyptus leaves, which is also their living place. This makes him
a heterotroph animal.

Due to the low value of eucalyptus, they must eat a lot of them; also they
must assure not wasting that energy, doing many or too much activity.

Slow metabolism helps the Koala to remain normal and preserve its
energy.

Adaptation stage:

Koalas are well suited to trees, even if they do not have tails they have a great
sense of balance, also they got strong limbs to support its weight when
climbing. Their paws are adapted in order to climb and to grip, the structures
of their paws are of five digits, three on the front and two opposed to them.

Koalas have a fur that works as a coat to protect them from both high and
low temperatures, which also acts as a moisture repellent when it rains.
Stage of growth and reproduction:

Between the months of

September and March,
Koalas use to mate. It's
not very strict for Koalas
to mate within that
months, a good mating
not depend on seasons
or months, but in food;
so it depends on
Eucalyptus leaves, and
its quality.

Females generally start

breeding at the age of 3
or 4 years, and usually
they give birth to one
offspring each year, this
means females produce
in average 5 or 6
offspring over her
lifetime.

Females generally live

longer than males,
because males are often
injured in fights and due
to other dangerous
behaviors. The life-average of a wild koala is from 13 to 18 years.

As stages of growth, they are joeys and koalas.

Their stages when they are joeys are:

The joey Koala weights less than one gram, and it looks like a little pink
jellybean. It is very different from the adult Koala, because the offspring is
blind, hairless and its height its maximum of 2 cm.

When the little joey koala is born, it climbs to the mother pouch by its own.
It is blind when born, so he relies completely on his senses such as its touch
and smell to reach the mother's pouch. Being in the safety of its mother
pouch, joey koala starts to drink milk from the teat. It takes it plenty of time
to grow and develop.
After reaching the age of 6-7 months, joeys start to feed from gum leaves. In
order to do this, the mother passes to the joeys, the microorganisms
necessaries to make digestion. She produces a substance called "pap" that is
a specialized form of koala poop.

As soon as it starts eating gum leaves, it starts growing faster, and also
becoming bigger and stronger. The young koala cuddles into its mother belly
for warmth and shelter, but also rides on its mother back. Then it will start
making short trips away from her.

Finally when they are 12 months, they leave their mothers for finding its own
home.

Type of irritability and geographical space:

Its geographical location is mainly in Australia, but more specifically in the

eastern part of Australia. They were an important part of the culture there;
also their name is thought to come from an Aboriginal language meaning "no
drink". Their location is given in the map below:

The koala has an incredible nose that reacts to various stimuli, but one of its
most important function is to identify whether the leaves it is going to ingest
are poisonous or not.
Koala positions within the food chain
The koala inhabits the forests of eastern Australia. There must be 2
important factors to make a place suitable for this specie:

1. Trees liked by the koalas (principally Eucalypts, among others)

2. Presence of other koalas

The koala is a heterotroph, herbivore; this means its diet consists in plants,
mainly eucalyptus leaves. However, there are also another species living
within the koalas' habitat, creating a position for the koala in the food chain.
This places it as a primary consumer because it eats the eucalyptus leaves,
but it is eaten by a tertiary consumer, commonly, the dingo.

Importance of koalas in its environment:

The importance of koalas in their environment is principally within the food

chain, the koala is one of the few animals that feed exclusively on eucalyptus
leaves, and also they are part of the dingo's diet.
 Animal Fact Guide. (2014). Koala Facts for Kids | Australian Animals | Marsupials. Animal Fact
Guide. Retrieved 28 January 2017, from
Office of Environment & Heritage. (2016). Koala | NSW Environment & Heritage. Office of
Environment & Heritage. Retrieved 28 January 2017, from
http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/animals/TheKoala.htm
Aspects threatening the koala's reproduction:

Due to the construction of urban areas and the expansion of human

settlement, koalas have been exposed to several risks. Every year 4000
koalas die because of cars or dog attacks.

Koalas are very sensible to climate changes, and human-induced climate

changes are a risk to the specie too, so any radical change will cause koalas a
struggle to lengthen their lifetime.

Bushfires, are one of the most dangerous risks to koalas, because they live
surrounded by trees, and due to they are near to human civilization, a single
fire can disappear their habitat, endangering more koalas than they are.

Koala is now classified as a vulnerable specie.

Animal Fact Guide, (2014). Koala Facts for Kids | Australian Animals | Marsupials. Animal Fact
Guide. Retrieved 28 January 2017, from
Australian Koala Foundation. (2016) Threats to the Koala | Australian Koala Foundation. Save the
Koala. Retrieved 27 January 2017, from https:://www.savethekoala.com/about-koalas/threats-koala
Impact that humans will have if the koala disappear:

Koalas are an important part of Australia's economy, they benefit tourism, it

is estimated that $1.1 billion and $2.5 billion enter Australia, and that it
created over 9000 jobs.

So if the koalas disappear most of the money entering to Australia will be

lost, also all the jobs produced will disappear too.
Australian Koala Foundation. (2016 The koala is worth $1.1 billion & 9000 jobs | Australian Koala
Foundation. Save the Koala. Retrieved 27 January 2017, from https://www.savethekoala.com/our-
work/koala-worth-11-billion-9000-jobs
Office of Environment & Heritage. (2016). Koala | NSW Environment & Heritage. Office of
Environment & Heritage. Retrieved 28 January 2017, from
http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/animals/TheKoala.htm