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Koalas are found only in scattered parts of southeast Australia and face several threats to their survival. Their only food source, eucalyptus trees, have declined significantly as about a third of Australia's eucalyptus forests have disappeared in the past 200 years. Koalas also face threats from parasites, diseases, cars, poachers, and bushfires. Their slow reproductive rate of only one baby per year over nine years makes it difficult for the population to recover from these threats. Many zoos and wildlife parks have exploited koalas' docile nature by allowing visitors to handle and photograph with them, but this constant handling can stress their delicate systems and prevent breeding.

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35 views2 pages

Reading 01

Koalas are found only in scattered parts of southeast Australia and face several threats to their survival. Their only food source, eucalyptus trees, have declined significantly as about a third of Australia's eucalyptus forests have disappeared in the past 200 years. Koalas also face threats from parasites, diseases, cars, poachers, and bushfires. Their slow reproductive rate of only one baby per year over nine years makes it difficult for the population to recover from these threats. Many zoos and wildlife parks have exploited koalas' docile nature by allowing visitors to handle and photograph with them, but this constant handling can stress their delicate systems and prevent breeding.

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simsimsent
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KOALAS

A. Koalas are just too nice for their own good. And except for the occasional baby taken by birds of
prey, koalas have no natural enemies. In an ideal world, the life of an arboreal couch potato would
be perfectly safe and acceptable.
B. Just two hundred years ago, koalas flourished across Australia. Now they seem to be in decline,
but exact numbers are not available as the species would not seem to be ‘under threat’. Their
problem, however, has been man, more specifically, the white man. Koala and aborigine had co-
existed peacefully for centuries.

C. Today koalas are found only in scattered pockets of southeast Australia, where they seem to be
at risk on several fronts. The koala’s only food source, the eucalyptus tree has declined. In the past
200 years, a third of Australia’s eucalyptus forests have disappeared. Koalas have been killed by
parasites, chlamydia epidemics and a tumour-causing retro-virus. And every year 11000 are killed
by cars, ironically most of them in wildlife sanctuaries, and thousands are killed by poachers. Some
are also taken illegally as pets. The animals usually soon die, but they are easily replaced.
D. Bush fires pose another threat. The horrific ones that raged in New South Wales recently killed
between 100 and 1000 koalas. Many that were taken into sanctuaries and shelters were found to
have burnt their paws on the glowing embers. But zoologists say that the species should recover.
The koalas will be aided by the eucalyptus, which grows quickly and is already burgeoning forth after
the fires. So the main problem to their survival is their slow reproductive rate – they produce only
one baby a year over a reproductive lifespan of about nine years.
E. The latest problem for the species is perhaps more insidious. With plush, grey fur, dark amber
eyes and button nose, koalas are cuddliness incarnate. Australian zoos and wildlife parks have
taken advantage of their uncomplaining attitudes, and charge visitors to be photographed hugging
the furry bundles. But people may not realise how cruel this is, but because of the koala’s delicate
disposition, constant handling can push an already precariously balanced physiology over the edge.

F. Koalas only eat the foliage of certain species of eucalyptus trees, between 600 and 1250 grams a
day. The tough leaves are packed with cellulose, tannins, aromatic oils and precursors of toxic
cyanides. To handle this cocktail,koalas have a specialised digestive system. Cellulose- digesting
bacteria in the break down fibre, while a specially adapted gut and liver process the toxins. To digest
their food properly, koalas must sit still for 21 hours every day.
G. Koalas are the epitome of innocence and inoffensiveness. Although they are capable of ripping
open a man’s arm with their needle-sharp claws, or giving a nasty nip, they simply wouldn’t. If you
upset a koala, it may blink or swallow, or hiccup. But attack? No way! Koalas are just not aggressive.
They use their claws to grip the hard smooth bark of eucalyptus trees.

H. They are also very sensitive, and the slightest upset can prevent them from breeding, cause them
to go off their food, and succumb to gut infections. Koalas are stoic creatures and put on a brave
face until they are at death’s door. One day they may appear healthy, the next they could be dead.
Captive koalas have to be weighed daily to check that they are feeding properly. A sudden loss of
weight is usually the only warning keepers have that their charge is ill. Only two keepers plus a vet
were allowed to handle London Zoo’s koalas, as these creatures are only comfortable with people
they know. A request for the koala to be taken to meet the Queen was refused because of the
distress this would have caused the marsupial. Sadly, London’s Zoo no longer has a koala. Two
years ago the female koala died of a cancer caused by a retrovirus. When they come into heat,
female koalas become more active, and start losing weight, but after about sixteen days, heat ends
and the weight piles back on. London’s koala did not. Surgery revealed hundreds of pea-sized
tumours.

Almost every zoo in Australia has koalas – the marsupial has become the Animal Ambassador of the
nation, but nowhere outside Australia would handling by the public be allowed. Koala cuddling
screams in the face of every rule of good care. First, some zoos allow koalas to be passed from
stranger to stranger, many children who love to squeeze. Secondly, most people have no idea of
how to handle the animals; they like to cling on to their handler, all in their own good time and use
his or her arm as a tree. For such reasons, the Association of Fauna and Marine parks, an
Australian conservation society is campaigning to ban koala cuddling. Policy on koala handling is
determined by state government authorities. “And the largest of the numbers in the Australian Nature
Conservation Agency, with the aim of instituting national guidelines. Following a wave of publicity,
some zoos and wildlife parks have stopped turning their koalas into photo.

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