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The Koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) is a small Australian marsupial featured in the Australia Pack DLC for Planet Zoo.

Zoopedia Description

General[]

Population in the Wild: 80,000 (before 2019 fire season)

The Queensland koala bear (or Phascolarctos cinereus) is an arboreal marsupial that lives in the eucalyptus forests of Eastern Australia. They have grey to brown fur, stocky limbs with dexterous claws, rounded fluffy ears, and a face with a bulbous black nose. They are a sexually dimorphic species, meaning the males are significantly bigger than the females; Queensland koalas are between 60 to 75cm long, with males weighing between 4.2 and 9.1kg, and females weighing 4.1 to 7.3kg. Both sexes feed almost exclusively on eucalyptus leaves.

The species is vulnerable ā€“ threatened by natural hazards such as drought, predation and bushfires ā€“ but their situation has been further compounded by human activity. Deforestation of the eucalyptus forest in which they live has caused a reduction in their numbers, and their habitat has also been fragmented by land use changes. They are also often killed on roads. Additionally, disease is a significant problem, with at least 40% to 52% of the population being infected with chlamydia, which causes koalas to go blind and become infertile. As a result, populations are being researched and sick koalas are being treated and rehabilitated where possible, while there are groups dedicated to replanting eucalyptus trees for them to feed on.

Social[]

Koalas are solitary animals, but their home ranges often overlap and they will tolerate nearby koalas.

Reproduction[]

Male and female koalas both have home ranges; the larger and more dominant of the males tend to have larger home ranges. The ranges of both sexes will overlap, meaning they are likely to interact with one another. Males detect female receptivity by scenting their urine, also marking trees with their chest scent glands and urine, before bellowing when there are receptive females around. Males of all ages will both seek out females, but the younger males are likely to be chased off or prevented from approaching females by older, larger males.

When a male wants to mate with a female, he approaches her aggressively, usually using his superior size and strength to mount her. This often elicits a negative reaction from females; they vocalize loudly and attempt to fight males off, but koalas' sexual dimorphism means females are often outmatched by larger males. They will however be more likely to be able to fight off younger, smaller males. This contributes to why larger males are more likely to successfully mate.

A pregnant mother will give birth to one joey between 33 and 35 days after mating, but it is extremely underdeveloped, born in the embryonic stage. After birth, it climbs from its motherā€™s reproductive tract up her belly fur to her pouch, where it settles and exclusively feeds from the two teats therein for the next 5 to 6 months. When it leaves at 6 months old, it will be fully weaned by 11-12 months, becoming independent from its mother at around 1 year old, or when the motherā€™s next joey is born. Young koalas remain in the near vicinity of their mothers until they are about 2 years old, and then will roam farther afield.

Animal Care

PREFERRED OBJECTS

Eucalyptus Branches Ā· Leaves and Shoots Ā· Leaves and Shoots

FEEDING STATIONS
Water Pipe Ā· Water Bowl Ā· Arboreal Feeding Platform

FOOD ENRICHMENT
Eucalyptus Tree Feeder

HABITAT ENRICHMENT
Climbing Frame Ā· Herb scent marker Ā· Mirror mobile Ā· Wind Chimes

COMPATIBLE ANIMALS

IconRedKangaroo

Trivia

Zoopedia Fun Facts[]

  • Whether there are different subspecies of koala is disputed due to genetics. Victoria koalas are much larger and stockier than Queensland koalas, with shaggier, thicker fur, and fluffier ears.
  • Koala fur is an extremely good insulator, rivalling Arctic mammal fur. They need this fur to keep them warm because their metabolism is very slow
  • Due to the low nutrient content of eucalyptus and how difficult it is to digest, koala joeys will feed from their mothers' faeces before moving on to eating the raw leaves; this is easier to digest and also introduces bacteria that can assist in the breakdown of eucalyptus into the joeyā€™s digestive system
  • Koalas rarely drink, getting almost all the water they need from their eucalyptus diet
  • Koala fingerprints are almost indistinguishable from human fingerprints

Gallery


ANIMAL NAVIGATION
STANDARD: HABITAT
Aardvark ā€¢ African Buffalo ā€¢ African Savannah Elephant ā€¢ African Wild Dog ā€¢ Aldabra Giant Tortoise ā€¢ American Bison ā€¢ Bactrian Camel ā€¢ Baird's Tapir ā€¢ Bengal Tiger ā€¢ Black Wildebeest ā€¢ Bongo ā€¢ Bonobo ā€¢ Bornean Orangutan ā€¢ Cheetah ā€¢ Chinese Pangolin ā€¢ Common Ostrich ā€¢ Common Warthog ā€¢ Formosan Black Bear ā€¢ Galapagos Giant Tortoise ā€¢ Gemsbok ā€¢ Gharial ā€¢ Giant Panda ā€¢ Greater Flamingo ā€¢ Grizzly Bear ā€¢ Himalayan Brown Bear ā€¢ Hippopotamus ā€¢ Indian Elephant ā€¢ Indian Peafowl ā€¢ Indian Rhinoceros ā€¢ Japanese Macaque ā€¢ Mandrill ā€¢ Nile Monitor ā€¢ Nyala ā€¢ Okapi ā€¢ Plains Zebra ā€¢ Pronghorn Antelope ā€¢ Red Panda ā€¢ Red Ruffed Lemur ā€¢ Reticulated Giraffe ā€¢ Ring Tailed Lemur ā€¢ Sable Antelope ā€¢ Saltwater Crocodile ā€¢ Siberian Tiger ā€¢ Snow Leopard ā€¢ Spotted Hyena ā€¢ Springbok ā€¢ Timber Wolf ā€¢ West African Lion ā€¢ Western Chimpanzee ā€¢ Western Lowland Gorilla
ANNIVERSARY UPDATES
Black-and-White Ruffed Lemur ā€¢ Collared Peccary ā€¢ Red Deer
STANDARD: EXHIBIT
Amazonian Giant Centipede ā€¢ Boa Constrictor ā€¢ Brazilian Salmon Pink Tarantula ā€¢ Brazilian Wandering Spider ā€¢ Common Death Adder ā€¢ Eastern Brown Snake ā€¢ Giant Burrowing Cockroach ā€¢ Giant Desert Hairy Scorpion ā€¢ Giant Forest Scorpion ā€¢ Giant Tiger Land Snail ā€¢ Gila Monster ā€¢ Golden Poison Frog ā€¢ Goliath Beetle ā€¢ Goliath Birdeater ā€¢ Goliath Frog ā€¢ Green Iguana ā€¢ Lehmann's Poison Frog ā€¢ Lesser Antillean Iguana ā€¢ Mexican Red Knee Tarantula ā€¢ Puff Adder ā€¢ Titan Beetle ā€¢ Western Diamondback Rattlesnake ā€¢ Yellow Anaconda
DELUXE EDITION
Komodo Dragon ā€¢ Pygmy Hippo ā€¢ Thomson's Gazelle
ARCTIC PACK
Arctic Wolf ā€¢ Dall Sheep ā€¢ Polar Bear ā€¢ Reindeer
SOUTH AMERICA PACK
Colombian White-Faced Capuchin Monkey ā€¢ Giant Anteater ā€¢ Jaguar ā€¢ Llama ā€¢ Red-Eyed Tree Frog
AUSTRALIA PACK
Dingo ā€¢ Koala ā€¢ Red Kangaroo ā€¢ Southern Cassowary ā€¢ Eastern Blue Tongued Lizard
AQUATIC PACK
Cuvier's Dwarf Caiman ā€¢ Giant Otter ā€¢ Grey Seal ā€¢ King Penguin ā€¢ Diamondback Terrapin
SOUTHEAST ASIA ANIMAL PACK
Binturong ā€¢ Clouded Leopard ā€¢ Dhole ā€¢ Malayan Tapir ā€¢ North Sulawesi Babirusa ā€¢ Proboscis Monkey ā€¢ Sun Bear ā€¢ Giant Malaysian Leaf Insect
AFRICA PACK
African Penguin ā€¢ Fennec Fox ā€¢ Meerkat ā€¢ Southern White Rhinoceros ā€¢ Sacred Scarab Beetle
NORTH AMERICA ANIMAL PACK
American Alligator ā€¢ Arctic Fox ā€¢ Black-Tailed Prairie Dog ā€¢ California Sea Lion ā€¢ Cougar ā€¢ Moose ā€¢ North American Beaver ā€¢ American Bullfrog
EUROPE PACK
Alpine Ibex ā€¢ Eurasian Lynx ā€¢ European Badger ā€¢ European Fallow Deer ā€¢ Fire Salamander
WETLANDS ANIMAL PACK
Asian Small-Clawed Otter ā€¢ Capybara ā€¢ Nile Lechwe ā€¢ Platypus ā€¢ Red-Crowned Crane ā€¢ Spectacled Caiman ā€¢ Wild Water Buffalo ā€¢ Danube Crested Newt
CONSERVATION PACK
Amur Leopard ā€¢ Axolotl ā€¢ Przewalski's Horse ā€¢ Scimitar-Horned Oryx ā€¢ Siamang
TWILIGHT PACK
Common Wombat ā€¢ Egyptian Fruit Bat ā€¢ Raccoon ā€¢ Red Fox ā€¢ Striped Skunk
GRASSLANDS ANIMAL PACK
Blue Wildebeest ā€¢ Caracal ā€¢ Cloudless Sulphur ā€¢ Emu ā€¢ European Peacock ā€¢ Maned Wolf ā€¢ Menelaus Blue Morpho ā€¢ Monarch ā€¢ Nine-Banded Armadillo ā€¢ Old World Swallowtail ā€¢ Red-Necked Wallaby ā€¢ Striped Hyena
TROPICAL PACK
Asian Water Monitor ā€¢ Brown-throated Sloth ā€¢ Fossa ā€¢ Lar Gibbon ā€¢ Red River Hog
ARID ANIMAL PACK
Addax ā€¢ African Crested Porcupine ā€¢ Black Rhinoceros ā€¢ Dama Gazelle ā€¢ Desert Horned Viper ā€¢ Dromedary Camel ā€¢ Sand Cat ā€¢ Somali Wild Ass
OCEANIA PACK
Little Penguin ā€¢ North Island Brown Kiwi ā€¢ Quokka ā€¢ Spectacled Flying Fox ā€¢ Tasmanian Devil
EURASIA ANIMAL PACK
Hermann's Tortoise ā€¢ Mute Swan ā€¢ Saiga ā€¢ Sloth Bear ā€¢ Takin ā€¢ Wild Boar ā€¢ Wisent ā€¢ Wolverine
For the main article, see here.
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