Reasons why koalas keep sleeping
Living in Australia, it is a peculiar and precious primitive arboreal animal in Australia, belonging to the marsupial koala in mammals. Distributed in the dry forests of southeastern Australia.
Koalas are generally classified as nocturnal animals, active at night and in the twilight, because it can save water and energy consumption more than when the temperature is higher during the day. Koala spends an average of 18-22 hours a day to sleep and rest, and only 4 hours are left for feeding, activities, personal hygiene, and communicating with other koalas.
In the past, because koalas slept almost all day, people thought that koalas were poisoned by eating eucalyptus leaves. The drowsy state of koalas almost all day is actually an effective low-metabolism adaptation mechanism formed in the long-term evolutionary process to adapt to low-nutrient foods and save energy consumption.
Life habits of koalas
Koalas are generally classified as nocturnal animals, active at night and in the twilight, because it can save water and energy consumption more than when the temperature is higher during the day. During the day, they usually curl up and perch on eucalyptus trees, and only go out at night, climbing up and down the branches, looking for eucalyptus leaves to satisfy their hunger.
I live on eucalyptus for most of my life, but occasionally it may go down to the ground because of changing habitat trees or swallowing gravel that helps digestion. They feed on eucalyptus leaves and twigs, which are their only food. They almost never drink water because they get enough water from the eucalyptus leaves. Their livers are very peculiar and can separate the toxic substances in eucalyptus leaves. Therefore, koalas sleep a long time to digest the toxic substances. They need to sleep for 17-20 hours a day, and only 4 hours are left for food, activity, and personal use. Hygiene and communicate with other koalas.
Koalas are gentle and slow, and never pose a threat to other animals. Koala reacts very slowly, and the animal’s reflex arc seems to be particularly long. Once someone tried to pinch the koala with his hand, it took a long time for the koala to scream.
Koala’s nose is particularly developed, it can easily distinguish different types of eucalyptus leaves, and discover which ones can be eaten, which ones are poisonous and cannot be eaten, and can also smell the warning odors left by other koalas. Koalas will make a variety of sounds to communicate and communicate with other koalas. Male koalas mainly use roaring to indicate its dominance and dominance, so as to avoid fighting energy consumption and indicate its location to other animals.
A koala can tell at a glance whether a tree belongs to itself or to another koala. The koala will leave its own small ball-shaped excrement at the base of the tree; even a year after a koala dies, no other koala will move into this empty home, because during this time, the previous The fragrance mark left by a koala’s body and the claw scratching the bark mark have not yet disappeared by natural weathering.
When a young koala is sexually mature, it must leave its mother’s home territory and look for its own territory. Its goal is to discover and join another breeding population, which is more important than finding a habitable habitat. There are always some male koalas temporarily wandering outside the stable group, often watching the fringe of the breeding group, waiting to join them and become permanent residents.
Whether it is day or night, when in a safe home tree, the koala will naturally assume a variety of different sitting and sleeping positions. At the same time, it will stay on the tree to avoid the sun or enjoy the breeze. move Place. When the weather is hot, the koala spreads out its limbs and sways slightly to keep it cool, and when it gets cold, it shrinks its body into a ball to maintain its body temperature.
Koalas can swim, but only occasionally.
