Every Day Is Special: koalas

Showing posts with label koalas. Show all posts

September 26 – Save the Koala Day

Posted on September 26, 2014

Riddle: What's cute and fuzzy-furry-cuddly, eats mostly eucalyptus leaves, has super-sharp claws and (often) stinks big time because of the glands on its chest?

Answer: the koala!

You probably know that koalas are native to Australia, and that they are marsupials, which means that their babies are born while still embryos and finish developing in their moms' pouches.

According to the Australian Koala Foundation, September is Save the Koala Month, and today is the one-day version of the effort to raise awareness of and concern for these unusual and adorable animals!

Learn more about koalas on National Geographic Kids.

Do a koala craft – maybe using one of the ideas in this Pinterest board.

Can you keep up with the funny song “Paula the Koala”?

Find out more about koalas in this earlier post.

Also on this date:

Anniversary of the premiere of Gilligan's Island

Composer George Gershwin's birthday

Show-whale “Shamu”s birthday

JohnnyAppleseed's birthday

Plan ahead:

Check out my Pinterest boards for:

September holidays
September birthdays
Historical anniversaries in September

And here are my Pinterest boards for:

September 28, 2012 - Save the Koala Day

Apparently, all month long it's been Save the Koala Month, and I didn't even know it! But luckily there is a special Save the Koala Day near the end of the month, so I don't feel as if I TOTALLY missed it!

Koalas aren't bears. They are marsupials, which means that, like kangaroos and opossums, they have pouches in which very young babies are protected as they drink milk and grow. They live mostly up in trees (which makes them “arboreal,” or tree-dwellers), and they eat leaves, leaves, and more leaves from the eucalyptus tree (which makes them herbivores).

Unfortunately, koalas were considered threatened by shrinking habitat—eucalyptus forests being cut down as people build more and more houses and cities—and last month the news got even worse: now koalas are considered an endangered species. It's hard to imagine that this adorable, beloved creature, important symbol of Australia (and Qantas Airline), might go extinct—but people will have to do more to protect koalas from habitat loss, dogs, disease, and even climate change, if we are to still live in a world with koalas!