by Crystal Shih
Why go to Australia? Now you can see koalas in Taipei! Taiwan, after America, Japan, and Germany, is the fourth country outside Australia that has koalas on display. Did you stand in the long lines under 38-degree heat for three hours in order to take a 20-second glimpse of the two sleepy koalas? Or did you notice that the streets had become filled with products with koala images, from clothes to key chains? Yes, the two koalas, Patrick and Harley, have certainly fascinated us. Patrick and Harley arrived at the Taipei zoo on July 31, from the Currumbin Sanctuary on Australia’s Gold Coast. On the first day, about 60,000 people visited the zoo. The visitors in the first week amounted to 350,000 people. Matthew Jackson, the wildlife supervisor from the Gold Coast had worried that the koalas would be maladapted. Fortunately, the noisy crowds seemed not to affect the two guests too much. If the two male koalas can adjust themselves well to the environment of Taiwan, two female koalas will join them in the next two years. In fact, the two koalas didn’t come all of a sudden. This project had been in the planning stages for six years. And four years ago, 6,000 eucalyptus trees were planted in Tamshui to feed the two bears. We all know koalas feed on eucalyptus leaves, but actually the picky bears will only eat from a few among more than six hundred species of eucalyptus trees. The zoo also built a “Koala Building,” which includes two indoor and two outdoor showgrounds. The inner showgrounds were designed to be kept at a temperature of 25 degrees celsius to make the koalas feel comfortable. “Koala” is derived from the language of Australian aborigines and means “no drinking.” It’s not true that they don’t drink any water but they do drink little because they take a lot from the eucalyptus leaves. On average they sleep 18-20 hours a day. This is also caused by their diet, since the eucalyptus leaves are high-cellulose and low-calorie. They sleep to prevent the loss of calories. Koalas are more active at night. Therefore, you had better visit them at dawn if you don’t want to see two drowsy bears. They seem to be slow-moving all the time. However, if you think they are snail-slow, you’re totally wrong. When a koala runs for its life, it is as fast as a rabbit. Moreover, it may surprise you that they can swim. “They are so cute,” is the first impression of most visitors. Koalas have the basic characteristics of so-called cute things: a fuzzy body, a big head, and short limbs. Although the koala’s head is big, the capacity of brain is small. Hence, they are not very intelligent. Koala bears are not really bears. They are arboreal marsupial animals. The fetus is only in the uterus for one month. It will then stay in the mother’s marsupium for another six months. Normally speaking, The female koala gives birth to one baby at a time because the marsupium is not big enough for two. The average life span of koalas is ten years. Patrick and Harley are both two years old. We just celebrated their first birthdays on September 8th and October 26th. Have you not felt the whirlwind of koalas? The fuzzy toys we see everywhere appear so innocent and cute that people can’t help liking them. However, these toys are after all are not the real thing. Why not find some time to feel the magic power of koalas by yourself? If you are interested in getting more information, there is also a website for you to check out: http://www.koala.taipei.gov.tw. a
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May 2024
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