Animal Diaries Archive

Fussy Eaters

15 October 2004

There seems to be a few misconceptions related to the type and quantity of food koalas eat. As koalas spend up to 20 hours resting or asleep and the remaining time eating, their feeding time is vital to their health. Some people think that koalas eat only a special type of gum. That is partially true. There are several reasons why koalas choose only certain varieties of eucalypt to eat. One reason is that some are more toxic than others. Some species hold more nutritional value and some species are just not the most palatable. There are, in fact, around 50 species of eucalypt which are favoured by koalas in Australia. The koala is strictly a leaf eater with a strong preference to species which grow in their particular region. Other trees may be utilized, however sometimes even singular trees are singled out for food over others. A full-grown koala can potentially consume up to one kilogram of leaf matter per day. Quite regularly, koalas will shade in non-food tree during the day and move to feed in others trees at night. Just as we humans like a selection of different foods everyday, similarly koalas get bored with the same food. At Australia Zoo we provide a selection of different species to satisfy our fussy koalas every day. Here is a list of local eucalypt species we can provide our koalas.

Common name Botanical name Blue gum; Eucalyptus tereticornis
Tallowood; Eucalyptus microcorys
Grey gum; Eucalyptus propinqua
Scribbly gum; Eucalyptus signata
Gum topped box; Eucalyptus molucanna
Narrow leaf red gum; Eucalyptus seeana
Flooded gum; Eucalyptus grandis
Spotted gum; Eucalyptus maculate
Swamp mahogany; Eucalyptus robusta
Red stringy; Eucalyptus resinifera
White gum; Eucalyptus dunnii

These species are most suitable in the South East Queensland region for koala food trees. Grow them on your property to promote a habitat for koalas.

By Brendan