Everything You Need to Know About Koala Bears

By Ruby Tazim

Did you know...?

"The koala has several adaptations for its eucalypt diet, which is of low nutritive value,

of high toxicity, and high in dietary fibre. The animal's dentition consists of the incisors

and cheek teeth (a single premolar and four molars on each jaw), which are separated by a

large gap (a characteristic feature of herbivorous mammals). The incisors are used for being

grasping leaves, which are then passed to the premolars to be snipped at the petiole before

passed to the highly cusped molars, where they are shredded into small pieces. Koalas may

also store food in their cheek pouches before it is ready to be chewed. The partially worn

molars of middle-aged koalas are optimal for breaking the leaves into small particles,

resulting in more efficient stomach digestion and nutrient absorption in the small intestine,

which digests the eucalyptus leaves to provide most of the animal's energy. A koala sometimes

regurgitates the food into the mouth to be chewed a second time.

*All information acquired from Wikipedia*