Koala

Cute and cuddly koalas are not bears—they’re marsupials, animals that carry their babies (joeys) in pouches. “Koala” means “no-drink,” since they get most of their water from the leaves they eat. Found in the forests of eastern Australia, koalas are designed to live in trees. Their thick fur is nearly waterproof, and padded tails keep them comfortable on branches. Two opposable fingers on their front paws grasp branches while fused toes on their back feet act as grooming claws.

BurningWell, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Koala at Perth Zoo

Did you know koalas have fingerprints? In fact, koala prints are so similar to human prints that if they were found at a crime scene, they’d be difficult for investigators to distinguish. Does that mean humans and koalas are related? No! Humans are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27), while animals are not. However, common design points to a common designer!

Koalas are notoriously picky eaters. They prefer to munch on the leaves of Eucalyptus (yoo-kah-LIP-tiss) trees. Most other animals cannot eat Eucalyptus because it’s toxic. However, God designed some animals like koalas with the ability to eat poisonous plants in our fallen world today. Scientists discovered that koalas know their limits and will avoid leaves with higher-than-average toxins. They will also occasionally eat dirt to help digest these leaves. Koala cecums (a part of their intestines) are four times longer than their bodies and are filled with bacteria that break down Eucalyptus leaves. Their livers are also specially designed to process poisons. In fact, the strong-smelling oils of Eucalyptus transfer to the koalas, giving them an odor similar to menthol cough drops. Since Eucalyptus leaves don’t provide much energy, koalas typically sleep 18–22 hours per day.

Unlike many other marsupials whose pouches open upwards, koala pouches open downwards. When joeys are born, they are the size of jellybeans! Despite being blind and deaf, they have very strong limbs and climb up into their mothers’ pouches, where they finish developing. As they grow bigger, they begin riding on their mothers in piggy-back style! When koala joeys are old enough, they will begin to eat a special type of poo called “pap,” excreted by their mothers in their feces. Pap is composed of partially digested leaves and the important bacteria needed to process Eucalyptus. We might think eating poo is gross, but without pap, the joeys would not be able to thrive as adults. Strange, but true!