What Do Koalas Eat?

Koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus) are herbivores feeding on leaves from eucalypt and non-eucalypt tree species.

Interestingly, a majority of the diet of the koalas comes from a few of the eucalyptus tree species with the examples of the following: Eucalyptus viminalis, Eucalyptus punctata, Eucalyptus ovata, Eucalyptus camaldulensis, and Eucalyptus tereticornis.

• Eucalyptus leaves are very toxic, especially to animals, but koalas have a specialized mechanism to go around this toxicity.
• Koalas have bacterial flora in their stomachs, which comes in handy to metabolize the toxins from eucalyptus leaves.
• There is only 1 Koala species that exists, Phascolarctos cinereus. However, there appear to be differences in the scientific community’s opinions on whether 3 subspecies of Koalas exist or if these subspecies can only be viewed as races.
• The koala’s fur varies from light grey to brown depending on their location. Koalas living in the south of Australia tend to have a thick and dark coat, which is sometimes browner.
• Brown koalas are mostly found in South Australia and Victoria. Those living in north Australia spot a light grey hue, mostly found in Queensland. They tend to be smaller compared to their southern counterparts.
• Koalas living in Australia’s New South Wales state have a grey-brown color.

Koalas are arboreal, meaning they will tend to inhabit forested areas, especially those with eucalyptus trees.

They will only come to land when they need to, like looking for a new place to live or searching for water or safety. Aside from this, koalas will spend most of their lives on trees.

Koalas strictly feed on a plant diet and will not prey on other organisms. As a result, koalas do not hunt.

Koalas are nocturnal feeders. This means they come out at night to feed and then return to their usual sleeping pattern. Koalas have been noted to eat during the first half of the night.

Koalas do not feed continuously during their feeding sessions. They feed in a series of about 6 to 10 bouts for an average of 20 minutes but can last for between 5 and 18 minutes.

• Adult koalas feed as much as they can to reach their daily schedule of consuming between 200-500 grams of eucalyptus leaves. They cannot eat more than three pounds of leaves daily or will experience indigestion.
• Given the above, it is worth noting that Koalas will spend most of their wake time feeding, but as they do so, they cannot exceed their daily limit of food intake.
• Interestingly, how often koalas feed depends on the weather. In Australia’s south, where it is colder (wet and cold during winter) compared to the north, koalas do not eat during heavy rains.

These marsupials remained curled up into a ball during this time. They do this to insulate themselves from the cold and to conserve energy.

Koalas have very few natural enemies, and because of this, they are at the apex of their food chain in Australia’s mainland. Some of their predators may include large owls and dingoes. Pythons and eagles also predate on koalas.

Koalas have an instrumental role to play in the animal food chain.

• They are prey to a vast range of carnivorous species like eagles, large owls, and pythons which find them to be a perfect delicacy.
• In general, they are pivotal in maintaining the health of the ecosystem, especially Australia’s environment.