Koala Care
A Quick Guide to Koala Care
Koalas adapt well to living in captivity, so koala care is not as hard as it is for many other animals. It is illegal for anyone to have a koala as a pet so all koalas not living in the wild inhabit zoos or protected reserves. Most zoos try to make the koala’s surroundings as much like their natural habitat as possible. The greatest challenge in koala care for those living in captivity is the same as for those living in their natural habitat--the constant need for certain types of eucalyptus leaves.
While there are more than six hundred types of eucalyptus in the world, only twelve kinds are eaten by koalas. Many zoos that are involved in koala care actually grow their own eucalyptus and pick it fresh for each feeding. Koalas kept in captivity live longer than those in the wild, where they are exposed to more predators and natural disasters, such as forest fires.
Koalas are nocturnal so those who care for them during the day will see little activity. They go to sleep at night in the branches of a tree. In the wild, if an old or very young koala cannot get high enough up the tree, they are ones most often caught or eaten by predators. Eagles and hawks will prey on koalas. In confinement, when a koala is on the ground when others are sleeping in trees, it means that he is ill or has been injured in some way.
Koala care means studying their body posture and movements to see if anything seems off that might indicate they are sick. The only veterinarians capable of treating koalas are those trained in wild animal care, such as those at zoos and other kinds of study or research centers.
Every day the excrement of the koalas needs to be cleaned up and the area disinfected with a type of disinfectant that will not hurt the koalas. They are very sensitive to different kinds of chemicals. Not much is involved in cleanup. Compared to many other animals, they are very clean, with usually only a few hard pellets which need to be swept up.
People involved in koala care, such as zookeepers, must be very attentive to koalas so that they can know immediately if a koala is showing any signs of stress, such as a different body posture, coming down to the ground too often, or not eating and losing weight. In most zoos and koala care facilities, the animals are weighed often so that any changes can be quickly recorded. Weighing also helps determine if a female is pregnant or not.
Koalas don’t eat until the day is almost over and the sun has gone down. While in the wild they would be out most of the night foraging for eucalyptus leaves, those who are in captivity have their food readily available, whether they are in an area where eucalyptus has been planted for them, or whether they are given freshly cut eucalyptus branches to eat.
Although eucalyptus is poisonous to all other animals, the koalas have a special digestive process that eliminates the poisons. Still, eucalyptus is very low in nutritional value, and that combined with the koalas’ slow metabolism, means they sleep 18-20 hours every day.