How do koalas drink? Scientists find it's not what we think
People have long been puzzled about how koalas get enough water and it turns out they lick tree trunks after it rains.
4 May 2020
The question of how koalas get enough water to survive has long puzzled scientists [File: Steve Holland, AP Photo]
Scientists have solved a lingering mystery about koala behaviour - how the tree-dwelling marsupials native to Australia drink enough water to live.
A new study describes koala drinking behaviour in the wild for the first time, finding that they lick water running down the smooth surface of tree trunks during rainfall - a phenomenon called "stemflow" - and do not rely merely on the water content of the leaves that make up their diet.
The findings, which the researchers said may be useful in koala conservation efforts, were based on 46 observations of koalas in the wild from 2006 to 2019, mostly at You Yangs Regional Park in Australia's southern state of Victoria.
"I think the main message is that behavioural observations in the wild are very important to establish what is normal and what is unusual, and to truly understand what animals need. If we watch them carefully, they will tell us," said University of Sydney ethologist Valentina Mella, lead author of the research which was published this week in the journal Ethology.
More:
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/05/koalas-drink-scientists-find-200505020017380.html
Raw Video: Sam the Koala Gets a Drink After Fire
Associated Press
1.21M subscribers
A firefighter finds a koala moving gingerly on her scorched paws after wildfires sweep Australia. "Sam" accepted a bottle of water and is now recovering at a wildlife shelter. (Feb. 11)
Tess Parker
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We saw this wild koala by the side of the road and he didn't look like he was going to make it. We started feeding him water and he responded very well, so we gave him all the water we had! This took place outside Adelaide during a massive heat wave in January 2013. Koalas are not known to drink water as they get everything they need from the eucalyptus leaves but in dire and dry conditions they are known to come down from their trees and seek water. We hope this little guy did all right, after we left he was looking 100% better and relaxing on a rock out of harm's way.