10 Adorable Facts About Koalas...They Don't Just Hug Trees For No Reason
by N/A, 10 years ago |
1 min read
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adorable
Cute
Nature
Travel
koala
Animals
Australia
Biology
Ecology
Environment
Exotic Pets
Marsupial
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1. Koalas are picky eaters. They only like about 30 out of 600 kinds of eucalyptus trees.
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/sifts.spartzinc.com/images/d279191730079cd166fd3ba7481faf61.jpeg)
Because they eat so much eucalyptus, they can smell like giant cough drops.
2. Koalas can only stay awake for four hours per day.
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/sifts.spartzinc.com/images/d1e95e47b78662ec675549ed1ed575ab.jpeg)
Their diet of eucalyptus leaves doesn't give them much to work with, including energy.
3. Koala fingerprints are almost identical to human ones.
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/sifts.spartzinc.com/images/d60120f7a14677a0ab42300311ab921e.jpeg)
But their hands are covered in warts.
4. Despite popular opinion, koalas do need to drink water in order to survive.
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/sifts.spartzinc.com/images/b709554260f44b03393d9d1e879eb7cb.jpeg)
5. Some koalas have chlamydia.
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/sifts.spartzinc.com/images/a82aa7e6161c9eba94338f8f96166269.jpeg)
And by some, we mean a lot - about 50 to 90 percent of the female population! It's one way the koala population stays under control.
6. Koalas exhibit more lesbian behavior when they're in captivity.
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/sifts.spartzinc.com/images/f52f4a57897f19fbf5ac3896ac2cde6c.jpeg)
The homosexual encounters can last twice as long as the heterosexual ones, and involve up to five koalas.
7. Koala mothers make "pap" for their babies.
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/sifts.spartzinc.com/images/3f9de0bc9298c41f916fd5440b161a1d.jpeg)
It's a kind of soup they make internally and excrete.
8. Koalas are not bears!
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/sifts.spartzinc.com/images/b7758df4d360a8ec6bd84d77beb1ac85.jpeg)
Even though their scientific name, "Phascolarctos cinereus," means "ash-grey pocket-bear," they belong to the marsupial family.
9. Koalas stay cool by hugging tress.
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/sifts.spartzinc.com/images/8476f44e870511bd596c30e38d4702ed.jpeg)
The hotter the temperature gets, the closer they'll hug the tree to their body.
10. Albino koalas are incredibly rare.
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/sifts.spartzinc.com/images/398559ed5200a25aa19ee5645c6c57b5.jpeg)
But they're just as adorable! They have white fur and pink eyes.
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Do not show me this again