Australian Pictorial of Wild Life

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Introduction - Koala's

The endearing koala is one of the most loved and familiar of Australia's native animals. Found in Queensland, New South Wales, South Australia and Victoria, there are an estimated 40,000 to 80,000 koalas in the country.

Fossilised remains discovered in 1953 at Lake Palankarinna, South Australia, suggest that koalas have existed for at least 15 million years. The first reported sighting was by John Price in 1798 during a journey to the tablelands west of Sydney, but not until 1816 was the koala given its scientific name of Phascolarctos cinereus. The common name, koala, is an Aboriginal word that means "never drinks", which indicates this particular characteristic of the animal.

The first living koala transported abroad was one purchased by the Zoological Society in London in 1880.

When Australia was first settled by Europeans in the late 18th century, koala numbers were low because koalas were a favourite source of food both for Aborigines and the dingoes. The numbers increased as both these predators retreated from settled areas, only to be threatened again in the early 1900s by mass slaughter for their skins. In 1924, at the height of the killings, almost 2 million koala pelts were exported from Australia. By 1927 koala numbers were struggling, causing such a public outcry that a ban was placed on koala hunting and within a few years the attractive little marsupials were given complete protection.

Although koalas are often referred to as bears, they are not related at all to those animals. They are closely related to wombats, though the latter are ground dwellers.

Unfortunately the koalas' habitat has never been protected and today this is recognised as the biggest threat to their existence. Since the white settlement of Australia, approximately 80% of their former habitat has been destroyed and the remaining 20% is unprotected by legislation.

Koalas, however, are among our most widely researched animals. It is hoped that the knowledge being gained and passed on to the government, local councils and the general public will result in greater awareness of the koala's plight, and in measures that will ensure the survival of this unique creature for future generations.

Introduction - Kangaroo's

Nearly three quarters of the world's 250 species of marsupial mammals are found in Australia, including the kangaroo and its relatives.

Although this vast island has extremely diverse climatic conditions and geological variations, the kangaroo can be found all over the continent, being equally at home on the driest plains of Central Australia and in the dense bushland of the eastern states.

Members of the family are easy to identify, most having hind legs that are much larger than their forelimbs, and long muscular tails.

Although some of the smaller wallabies and rat-kangaroos move rapidly on all fours, the rest of the family take to their hind limbs when they are in a hurry.

Before white people came to Australia the only disruption to the environment came from the Aboriginals, who were nomadic, neither grazing animals nor growing crops. Apart from the fires they lit, the animals they hunted for food and the wild dog that came with them, their presence posed little threat to the survival of Australia's wildlife.

However, the clearing of vast tracts of land for crops, hunting on a grand scale and the introduction of other mammals such as the fox, goat, rabbit and the domestic cat have had a devastating effect on some of the smaller marsupials, who are now endangered or have already become extinct.

The larger kangaroos however, have benefited from the clearing of land, preferring to graze over the open plains.

The man-made waterholes and crops allow them to live in areas where they would otherwise be unable to survive, so they flourish. Unfortunately the kangaroos then cause considerable damage to fences, compete with livestock for food and regrettably have to be culled in certain areas.

The graceful bounce of a kangaroo is a beautiful sight for those lucky enough to encounter these animals in the wild, for they are very shy and prefer to stay out of the way of humans.

Introduction - Platypus

Australia is home to the only two egg-laying mammals in the world, called monotremes.

The Platypus, which inhabits the waterways of eastern Australia, is perhaps the more interesting of the two. It has a duck-like bill, webbed feet, flattened tail and lays eggs. The young lap milk that oozes from pores in the mother's belly. The tail is used as a stabiliser under water and also stores fat, enabling the animal to survive in winter when extra food is needed to combat cold. It wasn't until 1884 that zoologists came to terms with the idea of a furred animal hatching from an egg, something unheard of.

Between dusk and dawn the platypus comes out of its burrow and dives for food, keeping its eyes, ears and nostrils closed as it hunts for aquatic food, tracking prey by its amazing bill, which detects the tiny electric impulses given off by its victim. Once caught, the food is stored in cheek pouches until the platypus reaches the surface. An adult can eat up to half its body weight, which is 900 grams for females and 1.7 kilograms for males.

Because of its secretiveness, the platypus is rarely seen by people, but in fact is more common than usually thought.

The Spiny Ant-eater or Echidna is one of our most widespread native animals, living anywhere from desert to rainforests and everywhere between the two. The body of this little animal is covered with sharp quills, formidable deterrents to attackers. As the name implies, the Spiny Ant-eater's diet is mainly ants. It catches insects in the sticky saliva covering its tongue and has been known to dig with its strong, rounded claws to nearly a metre to capture more tasty morsels like queen ants. It locates its prey largely by smell but there is evidence that the snout bones carry sound waves to the ear, enabling the creature to hear the faint sounds that ants and termites make. Unlike the platypus, the Echidna has a pouch-like fold in its abdomen where it incubates its egg, which hatches about 10 days after it was laid. Blind, hairless and virtually helpless, the tiny echidna laps up milk from a secretory patch in the pouch-like fold. Echidnas usually grow to 45cm and weigh between four to six kilograms.

Monotremes and the American short-tailed shrew are the only venomous mammals in existence. But while the male platypus can inflict an agonising sting with the spur on its ankle and even kill small mammals with it, the echidna's venom mechanism is not functional. When disturbed or threatened the echidna either digs itself underground or curls into a spiky ball if the ground is too hard.

Both the platypus and echidna caused a sensation when they were discovered in the late 1700's and continue to delight and interest naturalists and the general public today.

Eastern Grey Kangaroo

The Eastern Greys, together with the Red and Western greys, are the biggest marsupials in the world. Both the Great Red Kangaroos of the inland and the Grey Kangaroos of the southern forests can bound at speeds of up to 48 kilometres per hour and leap over obstacles three metres high. They can reach over 2m in height, weighing about 80 kg, and they inhabit the plains and coastal areas of eastern Australia, from Victoria to Queensland. Their tail is thick and powerful and it is used while standing and hopping; their coat is soft and silvery-grey, with fine hair in the area between their upper lip and nostrils. They use their paws to hold onto things, and send signals to one another by a clucking sound.

They live in groups mainly where there are trees, as they like to rest and shelter in shade during the day. Close to sunset they leave their resting place in order to feed on ground plants and grasses. Although the clearing of forests is a threat to their survival because it destroys their habitat, farmlands provide good food and water.

Their bounce is particularly graceful; while hopping, they hold their heads up, the forelegs are low down and the tail moves up and down at each hop.

Koala Feeding Habits

Koalas are arboreal animals. Although there are 650 species of eucalypts in Australia today, koalas are known to eat only 50 to 60 of these. The preferred species varies from state to state and even among different animals in the same colony, but usually includes manna and swamp gums in the south and forest red gums in the north.

Koalas are extremely fussy about what they eat and find it difficult to adjust to a new variety of eucalyptus, preferring to travel quite a long distance to find the right leaf. Their good sense of smell helps them find the leaves they want.

Eucalyptus leaves contain oil and toxic chemicals that are harmful to most mammals, the amount of these substances in the leaves varying according to the time of year. The oil contains cineol, which kills the bacteria in the animals' gut. Koalas, however, seem to suffer no ill effects from it, even from the manna gum, which contains three times as much oil as most other leaves. The other poison in the leaves is hydrocyanic acid, which can be at lethal levels in new shoots. Koalas take care to sniff each leaf very carefully before eating, which no doubt helps them avoid illness. To assist digestion of the tough fibrous leaves, koalas have the longest known caecum of any animal, measuring up to 2m long, 10cm in diameter and having a holding capacity of 2 litres. Finely chewed food remains in the caecum for up to eight days while bacteria ferments it.

Koalas quietly consume approximately 1 kg of leaves daily, with peak feeding time usually being two hours after sunset. Under normal conditions they do not require ground water, receiving sufficient moisture from the leaves and dew. Sometimes they also eat the bark of young tender branches and the fruit, flowers and buds of Eucalypts.

Life Cycle - Reproduction

Koalas are marsupial mammals. At the start of the spring breeding season, male koalas are very noisy and bellow loudly. The sound is audible up to a few kilometres away and not only attracts females but also warns other males of a dominant males presence and therefore to stay away. Males also claim their territory by grasping the base of a tree and rubbing it with their chest, where a scent gland is located. This releases a strong musky odour which also attracts any females ready for mating. The courtship however, is performed by the females, who become very agitated and go through a repertoire of behaviour patterns. Mating usually takes place at night, high up in the trees.

The female gives birth generally to a single young 35 days after mating. The newborn weighs about half a gram (1/17000th of the mother's weight), is about 19mm long, has no fur, its hind legs are undeveloped, and it struggles through the mother's fur to her pouch. The mother assists by licking a path towards her pouch. Once inside, it fastens its mouth firmly to the smaller of the two teats, suckles and continues its development. During this period, its first set of claws drop off and new ones grow. At 13 weeks the koala weighs 50 grams and fine hair appears over the next few weeks. Its eyes open at 22 weeks and the youngster takes the occasional peek at the world outside while in the pouch.

For the next six to eight weeks the mother secretes a kind of eucalypt soup called "pap", which provides a food rich in bacterial protein. At 24 weeks the young koala is fully furred and by 30 weeks it spends most of its time outside the pouch.

After leaving the pouch, the young koala spends another three to four months clinging to its mother's back with strong claws while she travels from tree to tree or, when she is resting, cuddled up in her arms. Growing rapidly on a mixed diet of milk and leaves, the youngster is fully weaned at 12 months. The mother mates again at this time and, if she conceives, the bond with the existing baby ends abruptly.

Immature females usually settle somewhere near the mother's range while the males leave the area at around 18 months of age, generally wandering for several kilometres before finally selecting a place to settle.

Females breed from the age of two and, unless suffering from Chlamydia, are able to produce a young each year until their lifespan of 10 to 15 years expires. Males, however, must wait until they are three or four before they are ready to stake out a territory and look for a mate. Stress, poor nutrition and disease can also depress a koala's fertility.

Females weigh about 8.5kg and continue to grow until they are around 3 years old. Males weigh about 11kg and grow until they are 4-5 years old. A mature koala grows to 65 to 80 cm long.

While most marsupials have front opening pouches, those of koalas and wombats open in the middle at first. Then, as the baby becomes bigger, the pouch expands forward, pushing the opening towards the rear. This can make life rather hazardous for a young koala and an instance at Taronga Zoo in Sydney saw staff forced to clip a calf into its mother's pouch because she often relaxed her pouch muscles and the calf became airborne.

Koala Life Pattern

Koalas live a solitary existence and it is more common to see either a mother with her baby or a single animal rather than a group or a family. They communicate from a distance by loud, pig-like cries.

They are tree dwelling marsupials that only come down from their lofty heights for short periods of time, generally descending backwards to the ground.

Koalas have a unique split hand which has two fingers working opposite the other three, making a perfect gripping tool.

They generally sleep for 19 hours a day and spend the remaining time nibbling on leaves, changing trees once or twice a night. The low protein and energy-giving carbohydrate content in their diet is thought to explain their remarkably inactive lifestyle.

Female koalas are smaller than the males and have a more pointed face. The northern koalas are also different from their southern counterparts, being considerably smaller and having short, smooth fur. The southern koala's longer hair is a result of adaptation to living in cooler climatic conditions.

When koalas run, they can reach speeds similar to humans'. They are also able swimmers which allows them to move easily during flood conditions.

Although koalas have few natural predators, they are vulnerable to dingoes whilst moving along the ground, and youngsters are also taken occasionally by wedge-tailed eagles, powerful owls and tree goannas. They are very peaceful animals but they use their powerful claws to defend themselves from predators and they can cause serious injury to their opponent. Many of them are also killed during bushfires, by cars when crossing main roads or die of starvation when they loose their habitat.

The males can be aggressive towards each other when it comes to claiming either their mating partner or their territory.

Koalas have been known to live for seventeen to twenty years in captivity but generally do not reach this age in the wild because of disease and loss of habitat.

Red Kangaroo

The Red and the Grey kangaroos are the largest marsupials in the world. Both the Great Red Kangaroos of the inland and the Grey Kangaroos of the southern forests can bound at speeds of up to 48 kilometres per hour and leap over obstacles three metres high.

They can exceed the 2m height, they weigh about 80 kg, and the Reds in particular, keep growing to their full size until old age. The fully grown male has very powerful shoulders.

The female is smaller and has a more delicate structure. Their ears are long and very sensitive. Their colour varies from red to blue-grey on the back and lighter - almost white - underneath. Often the females have more greyish tones than the males.

When they hop they keep their head low and their tail high up. They live in Western, Central and South Australia.

Koala Research - Management

Concerned organisations such as the Australian Koala Foundation carry out research to keep track of breeding success, habitat, disease and general biology. Multi-coloured tabs help to accumulate sequential information on individuals and some koalas are fitted with radio transmitters for easy location. This vital work is costly and only possible through public donations and sponsorship by private companies.

Research has shown that koalas living near human populations face considerable threat from dogs and the clearing of trees for housing. In the tourist area of Phillip Island, many koalas have also been killed while trying to cross the highway. From 1,000 animals ten years ago, today there are only 100 on the island, partly because 90% of the animals suffer from the disease chlamydia, which results in a low fertility rate. However, a new Koala Conservation Centre has been opened, 40000 trees planted and 15 disease-free koalas relocated from South Gippsland to the 10 hectares of land. It is hoped this will strengthen the population , doubling it every two years, so the koalas can be released into the wild.

Much more work like this must be done and land reserved for the survival of one of Australia's national symbols.

Wallabies

Except for Rock Wallabies and Tree Kangaroos, there are very few outward differences between wallabies and kangaroos other than markings and a range in size from a Tammar Wallaby at 3-4kg to the Red Kangaroo at up to 85kg.

The wallaby's smaller size probably results from a gradual adaptation to its favoured environment of dense forest, woodland and the thick vegetation along watercourses.

One of the most attractive family members, Rock Wallabies are frequently brightly coloured and inhabit rough country and rocky outcrops throughout Australia, including small rocky islands around the coast. They jump fearlessly over deep chasms and leap among the high branches of tall trees.

Some of the smaller wallabies like the Pademelons have become endangered because of loss of habitat and the constant threat from foxes and dingoes, except in Tasmania where these predators do not occur. The Pademelon is a plump little wallaby which Aboriginals and early European settlers hunted for food.

The Parma Wallaby was thought to be extinct until a colony was found alive and well in 1960 on an island off the north coast of New Zealand. A few years later another colony of the species was discovered near Gosford, New South Wales.

Not all wallabies are rare however. The Agile or Sandy Wallaby is abundant in tropical coastal Australia to the point where it has been declared a pest in certain areas.

The appropriately named Pretty-faced Wallaby of north-eastern New South Wales and eastern Queensland has white markings on the face, hips and under the tail. It stays out of the humid valleys and prefers the more open spaces on the eucalypt-covered hills. The Black-striped Wallaby however, favours the dense undergrowth and rainforest of New South Wales and Queensland, where it can stay well hidden.

The famous explorer Willem de Vlamingh named an island in Western Australia after the Quokka. He called it Rottnest - meaning "rat nest" in Dutch - after mistaking the gentle little marsupial for a rat. Despite its apparent preference for densely vegetated, moist conditions, the Quokka survives in large numbers on this poorly vegetated island where there is little cover and a very limited water supply.

Another animal found on scattered islands in South and Western Australia is the Tammar Wallaby. On semi-arid islands fresh water may be unavailable for long periods and this adaptable wallaby can also survive well by drinking sea water. Other species from hot regions can exist without drinking ground water at all and will also stop breeding in times of drought, waiting until conditions are once more suitable for their young.

Wallaroo or Euro

Also called the Euro, the Wallaroo (Macropus robustus) inhabits the same coastal ranges and rocky inland hills as the smaller Rock Wallaby and feeds on grasses, shoots and leaves. It is also able to survive for some time without water.

Common throughout Australia except Tasmania, this animal has adapted to its rocky environment and has comparatively short, stocky hind legs suited to leaping among rocks, and broad feet with roughened soles to prevent slipping. The male is almost twice as heavy as the female and weighs about 45kg. The thick coat varies in length and its colour can range from grey shades to red with paler shading underneath. The hands and feet are dark coloured. If disturbed, the wallaroo makes a loud hissing noise.

Wallaroos are perfectly adapted to their home and are almost impossible to capture while in their own environment. The males are also fierce fighters if approached too closely, using their strong teeth and claws as well as their great muscular power. Generally no more than two or three of this species are seen together and they travel rigidly upright, keeping their forelimbs close to the body.

Although recognizable by their heavy build and long coarse hair, owing to their wide distribution wallaroos show considerable local variation and a degree of hybridism.

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