koalalover77

You may not know that the cute, cuddly marsupials you may know to be koala bears are endangered and are at a very high risk of becoming extinct. Many people think the koala is a very boring animal who doesn't do anything but sleep. They are actually very complex animals. That is why we decided to tell you all about these interesting mammals. As new born babies, they are only the size of a jelly bean. They are blind, deaf, and hairless, but still manage to crawl into their mother's pouch where they grow for 7 months. Baby koalas start eating leaves once they leave their mother's pouch. When the koala grows too large to fit in its mother's pouch, it catches a ride on her back. When the koala is about one year old, the koala is able to walk on its own. The koalas still drink their mother's milk. After a few more months of being nursed by their mother, the koalas are able to go off by themselves where they will face a world of dangers from hunters hunting for their skin to the natural global warming. Koalas only live in Australia and the islands surrounding it. They live all over Australia from the hot and dry regions to the cool and wet ones. Leaves from the eucalyptus tree is the only thing the adults eat. Without some species of the eucalyptus tree the koalas would die out,and become extinct. Since Europeans settled in Australia in the 1700's, 80 percent of the eucalyptus trees have been cut down. Eucalyptus is the only thing koalas eat making it almost impossible for them to survive. By the early 1900's koalas were nearly extinct, but by using the few remaining animals as breeding stock, they were able to stabilize their population. Eighty years ago people would hunt the animals for their fur. Seven years ago there was about 100,000 koalas in the forests of Australia. Now the number has dropped to about 43,000. Koalas in southern Australia have many of the same genes to to the interbreeding done by scientists to reestablish their population. This has caused many of outbreaks of disease and deformities amongst the koalas. Some scientists fear this will occur all around Australia. In the past ten years, Australia has been stuck with drought. Koalas get most of their water from the leaves they eat. When there is a drought, the eucalyptus trees lose their leaves. Without the leaves, koalas lose about 90% of their water intake. Because of all of the water they are losing, many koalas are suffering from dehydration. Their dehydration is causing them to have heat strokes. If heat strokes go untreated, the poor, defenseless koalas can easily die.

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