The Koala "Bear"

I recently had the opportunity to visit the Dallas Zoo.  It was my first visit to Dallas and my first visit to the Dallas Zoo.  It was a wonderful zoo!  Since spring arrived in the south so early this year, all of the vegetation was lush and in bloom.  I have never been to a zoo that had koala "bears", so I made a beeline straight for their enclosure.

I was not disappointed.  The koalas were magnificent!



The koalas are such amazing animals, so I thought I would look up the stats and statistics for them:

• Koalas are often called bears, but this is not correct.  Koalas are marsupials.
• Koalas weigh between 9 and 20 pounds.
• Koala fur is thick and soft and pleasant to touch.
• Koalas can live up to 17 years.
• Koalas spend up to 75% of each day sleeping.  They become active at sunset.
• Koalas survive solely on a diet of eucalyptus leaves.
• Koalas seldon drink water.  The eucalyptus leaves are about 50% water.
• Koalas have a very slow metabolism due to their nutrient poor diet.
• Koalas breed once a year.  The gestation period is only 35 days.
• The baby is born hairless and blind, is less than one inch long and weighs less than one ounce.
• Unaided, the baby must crawl to its mother's pouch, relying only on its sense of smell to do so.
• Once inside the pouch, the baby will remain for 6 months, drinking milk from the mother.

This was my first encounter with the koala.  I watched them for quite some time, and left very satisfied with the experience!