LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Koala
built 646 days ago
The Koala is found in coastal regions of eastern and southern Australia, from near Adelaide to the southern part of Cape York Peninsula. Populations ... extend for considerable distances inland in regions with enough moisture to support suitable woodlands. The Koalas of South Australia were largely exterminated during the early part of the 20th century, but the state has since been repopulated with Victorian stock. The Koala is not found in Tasmania or Western Australia.
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The Koala is well suited to life in the trees. The koala has an excellent sense of balance and its body is lean and muscular and its quite long, strong limbs support its weight when climbing. The arms and legs are nearly equal in length and the koala's climbing strength comes from the thigh muscle joining the shin much lower than in other animals.
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The diet of a koala is restricted to eucalypt leaves. It has developed cheek pouches for storing food and a digestive system able to deal with unpalatable, and even toxic compounds in eucalypt leaves. An adult koala eats an average 500g to 1kg of leaves and young shoots a day. Koalas can not eat all eucalypt species, only 50 of the 500 or more species are suitable to the koala's diet. Koala are able to sniff leaves to see if they are suitable to eat.
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Considered threatened by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the koala population still faces obstacles that are rapidly diminishing their numbers. Over browsed forests, brushfires, drought, infection, disease, urban encroachment, and even motorists threaten the koala population.
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To help it climb, a koala has special hands and feet, both of which have claws. A koala has two thumbs on its hands, and the ridged skin on the bottom of its feet gives it traction for climbing. Strong arm and shoulder muscles help a koala climb 150 feet (46 meters) to the top of a tree, and enable it to leap from treetop to treetop.
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The koala's tail is so short it's almost invisible. The pouch of the female encloses only two nipples and opens towards the rear. There is only one pair of lower incisors in the lower jaw and only one well-developed pair in the upper jaw. There are no canines.
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Koala