Dave Aplington, Age 9, Of Peoria, Ill., for his question:
Where do koala bears live?
A few years ago, some koala bears came to live in zoos in california. This was our first chance to see the cuddly creatures alive and happy. But, oh, the zoo keepers were worried that the test would. Fail. For koalas are very fussy fellows, and. We have learned only lately how to make them comfortable away from their native homes.
The koala bear may look like a cuddly toy bear, but he is not related to the real bears at all. In his native Australia, there are no wild bear's, and the cute koala is related distantly to the long legged kangaroo. He is a marsupial animal who spends the first six months of his life in a fur lined pouch on mama's tummy.
At one time, there were far more koalas in Australia. Those that remain live only in the eucalyptus groves from Victoria to Queensland. And these survivors are protected strictly by law. They are fussy, fragile animals that spend their lazy lives among the branches, nibbling now and then on the tenderest leaves.
As a rule, a large group of koalas shares a cluster of trees and never leaves home. Sometimes it is fatal to move a koala from one eucalyptus grove and place him in another. It was easy to capture one of them, and for a time he would seem happy as a pet. But the little darling never lived very long away from home.
Lately we have learned more about the koala and what he needs. Experts thought that he might survive among the eucalyptus trees of California where the climate is like the weather he enjoys at home. With tender care, several Australian koalas were shipped to the zoos in San Diego and San Francisco and everyone waited, hoping for the best.
The experiment worked, and the fussy little Australians now seem to have settled doom in their new homes. Visitors to the zoos can see them cuddled high in the branches of their California eucalyptus trees. But not so long ago, the furry darlings lived only in Australia. The papa koala is about three feet long with a soft coat and a pair of bright round eyes. His fluffy ears are large and floppy, and the lazy fellow clings to the branches with his sturdy arms and legs. He spends almost all of his time dozing and dining on eucalyptus leaves.
The mama koala may carry her baby around on her back until he is almost as big as she is. But junior was the tiniest of babies. He was a helpless infant about an inch long and no fatter than a pencil. The first six months of his life were spent inside mama's fur 1inrd pouch. Junior is always an only child, and the pampered darling may refuse to leave his loving mother until he is four years old..