The Australia Zoo has several furry koalas that like to sleep, eat and do little else.
A young female named Berry recently joined the drowsy crew. She was born at the Australia Zoo to a female koala named Matilda.
Berry lives with her mother and several other female koalas in a specially built enclosure. She loves the public eye and welcomes the occasional photograph with the zoo's many visitors.
Berry has the opportunity to live more than 20 years in captivity, though in the wild the average age for a female koala is between 10 and 15 years.
In the wild, koalas are found exclusively in the large eucalyptus forests of eastern Australia, where they spend almost their entire lives in trees.
Their bodies are very well-adapted to the life of a tree-dweller. For instance, each of their forepaws has three fingers with long, sharp claws for climbing and two opposable fingers for grasping branches.
Each of their hind paws has two climbing fingers, one grasping finger and two grooming fingers, the latter of which specialize in removing twigs and tics that get tangled in their dense fur.
Their thick, wool-like fur is the perfect camouflage. The gray to light brown color matches the bark of eucalyptus trees, concealing the fleshy koalas when predatory birds are on the prowl. Their fur is so thick and cushiony that koalas can sit on pointy branches for hours and hours and never feel pain.
Koalas feed almost exclusively on eucalyptus leaves, which are highly toxic. Of the approximately 350 species of eucalyptus, they can digest only 20 and prefer a mere five.
Bacteria in their intestines neutralize the many toxins found in eucalyptus leaves, allowing koalas to take advantage of a food source that is essentially unavailable to other animals.
Koalas possess another unique digestion tool: a 10-foot-long appendix. This enormous structure — the largest of any mammal — allows koalas to metabolize generous amounts of eucalyptus leaves daily.
Want a closer look? Check out More Koala Photos.
Enhance your experience: Watch Koalas in Action!
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