The Sleepy Koala

Today is National Relaxation Day in the U.S.; a day that’s supposed to be celebrated by kicking back and not doing much of anything at all. Of course being as it’s a Monday there may not be much relaxation in store for many of us, but we can all take comfort in the fact that there is at least one animal that will have no trouble at all dozing the day away; the koala.

Koala doing what he does best. Photo: Sanjay Ach

Sometimes incorrectly referred to as koala bears, koalas are actually marsupials related to kangaroos, wombats and opossums and are indigenous to southeastern and eastern Australia. They are sometimes considered the laziest animals in the world due to the fact that they will sleep 18-20 hours per day.

However, this lazy lifestyle is one of necessity. Koalas almost exclusively eat eucalyptus leaves which are extremely low in protein and nutritional content. Therefore, the koala has evolved with a very slow metabolism and requires long periods of inactivity to properly digest and extract the maximum amount of nutrients from the leaves they consume. Of the four hours or so that they are awake each day, koalas spend two hours eating. The rest of the time is spent curled up on a tree branch napping the day away.

One Big Wombat

The wombat is a small marsupial native to Australia and New Zealand. These herbivores live in burrows and are primarily nocturnal, so they are not commonly seen; however, a wombat skeleton recently unearthed in northern Australia proves that they may have not been so small a million years ago.

Common Wombat - Photo: JJ Harrison

Modern wombats are about three feet long and weigh 40-70lbs. The skeleton that was dug up, called diprotodon, indicates an ancient wombat relative that was over six feet tall and 11 feet long, weighing as much as 6000lbs. The fossil represents the most complete diprotodon skeleton ever found, and may offer paleontologists further insight as to why these large animals went extinct.

Source: Discovery News. 

Not a bat

Another Australian marsupial is the Wombat. Wombats are about 3 feet long and are diggers, who make extensive burrow systems.

Wombats are herbivores. They have an extremely slow digestive system—it can take up to 14 days for food to be digested!

These timid creatures are nocturnal, so are hard to spot in the wild. Here’s what my friend had to say when I asked her about wombats, “I did see them - asleep in their burrow. They look like enormous hamsters. They are amazingly cute. They can dig like crazy and that is how they escape predators.”

And I just think their name is amusing in itself...

Easily amused,

Jungle Jane