Koala Bear Care

According to Science Daily.com Koalas may be the pickiest marsupials around: They generally only eat eucalyptus trees.

Picture found at CosmoBC.com

They are also extremely picky as to which ones they eat from too. Koalas tend to base which tree they eat from based on factors including taste, to make its selection. In a study published in Ecology, a journal of the Ecological Society of America (ESA), researchers designed a new method that could help ecologists and conservationists map habitats for Koalas.

Ben Moore, colleagues, and researchers collected and analyzed leaves from all the trees available to koalas in a eucalyptus woodland using a near-infrared spectroscopic model. To define "palatability,” the researchers tested leaves on captive koalas, and recorded how much they ate, and of which leaves they preferred. Their studies concluded that the koalas ate less, when the eucalyptus contained high concentrations of lipid-soluble phenolic chemicals known as formylated phloroglucinol compounds (FPCs).

The researchers used their studies from captive Koalas to determine where most of the uncaptive Koalas would probably go for their food source. The researchers also determined the chemical composition of the trees' leaves, size, and neighborhood quality, or how attractive each tree's neighbors were to koalas. Koalas spend more time in large trees. Individual trees Koalas prefer depend on the taste of the leaves and where the tree is growing. Tree size and taste are most important to the koalas, but the researchers determined that certain trees were visited more often if they had smaller or larger trees surrounding it. They explained that the trees surrounded by smaller, unpalatable trees were probably more attractive by default comparison. They also explained that the trees surrounded by other large, palatable trees were visited more because Koalas were attracted to these high-quality areas.

"This method uses a new technique to combine our understanding of animal behavior with the chemical, spatial and physical aspects of the environment to make a map of koala habitat, as koalas see it," said Moore. "Our approach can aid ecologists in tracking and examining the presence or absence of animal populations in different areas -- and it can measure plants' susceptibility to herbivory -- by determining the quality and value of a habitat from the herbivore's point of view.”

Their research can help many zoos determine what kind of environment they should make so that the Koala bears will eat more, and feel in a more “natural,” environment. This will also help other researchers determine where the natural Koala bears are living in case they need to aid them with more options of food sources.

Origional article found at

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/11/101123210124.htm