How koala's choose to dine
26 May 2005
by Richard Conan-Davies
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How does a koala figure what is a good leaf to eat? Researchers from the Australian National University have now got a pretty good idea how they figure out which ones are going to make them feel ill or not. Dr Ben Moore with Professor Bill Foley who led this study explained that "the koalas' learned association between nauseating toxins and the smell of certain leaves means they don't become physically sick," and added that for Koalas in the wild "It's like having to choose between 1000 restaurants - or trees in the koalas' case - spread all over town, without a restaurant guide." The way his team worked this out was by mapping the content of nutrients and toxins in every tree in an area of forest on Victoria's Phillip Island over 10 years with the help of the local Friends of the Koalas group. The team also found that Koalas prefer larger trees where there is also more of a chance of bumping into a fellow koala. Dr. Moore did add that "However, among these large trees, they avoid those that have leaves with an excess of nauseating toxins and trees with leaves that contain little protein," He also suggested that it would be important to consider some trees for conservation depending on if they are an important food source for koalas. |
 Koalas choose their leaves by smell and how much protein they have. image credit: Dr Ben Moore. A male koala on Victoria's Phillip Island. |
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