Why consider Koala bears to be extremely lazy animals?

Around the world, only one country is blessed with the arrival of Koala, which is Australia, and especially only in the Eastern part of Australia, where there are many eucalyptus forests.

Koala are not bears, they have kangaroo-like pouches so that their koala can live there for up to 7 months, koalas rarely drink water . A lot of things we need to know about this animal, as well as the fact that they have losing 80% of their habitat, mostly to humans.

The smallest brain in the mammals

Although we are all used to calling them Koala bears, it is clear that these animals belong to the "masrupials" family , that is, the same family as Kangaroo, Wallaby and Possum. This means Koala also has . pouches, and new born koala babies will be nourished in the mother's pocket until they are fully developed.

Koala is one of the rare animals that do not need to drink water.

Koala has an average body length of 60-85cm, weighs about 12-15kg.Koala is one of the rare animals that do not need to drink water , this is an evolution to avoid predators hunting in places like rivers and streams.

One of their interesting features is that the brain is very small, the ratio of brain size to the body is only about 2% - the smallest of mammals. Notably, this brain is not only extremely small, it also has an extremely modest weight: Only about 19.2g and only about 60% of the skull.

Newborn baby koalas are only 2cm long, but when grown up, they can reach 60-85cm long and weigh up to 14kg. Koala can live up to 20 years without any factors that threaten them.

The lazy animal, sleeping up to 22 hours a day

An adult Koala bear will have to eat about 1kg of eucalyptus leaves a day to get enough nutrition, and it takes up to 100-200 hours to fully digest. People often call Koala a lazy animal when they sleep up to 18-22 hours a day.

However, koalas are sluggish because they have to eat food that is both indigestible and poor in nutrition, they have to move very slowly, and sleep a lot to conserve energy and digest the meal. It's true that newborn Koalas can't eat eucalyptus leaves, so they have to eat . their mother's dung in the early stages to live.

Most of Koala's energy has to be used for . digestion, preferably limiting exercise.

Koala mainly sleep during the day and at night wake up to feed. However, because their sleep time is too long, from 18-20 hours a day, so for them there is no day or night at all. Koala will wake up and feed when they have had enough sleep.

Do not drink water

In Aboriginal language, "Koala" means "no drinks" because they rarely drink water. Many people believe that koala keeps the moisture in people from eating leaves.

The only thing Koala eats is eucalyptus leaves, or eucalyptus. Only koala can digest this leaf because in their body there is a part called "cecum", which helps them digest this leaf without any problem.

But in the stomach of the young koala, the cecum has not grown enough to be able to eat eucalyptus leaves. They must stay in the mother's pocket until the digestive system is complete.

So Koala sleep too much is due to "drunk" eucalyptus leaves?They sleep so much because of the poor diet of eucalyptus leaves. Not to mention that most of the body's energy has to be used for . digesting, it is best to limit exercise.

Koala cubs will be protected in the pocket of the mother koala for 6 to 7 months. During that time, they will only drink milk from their mothers, and all the nutrients, as well as special microorganisms from the mother's koala, will be passed on to their babies, helping to perfect their digestive system.

• Surprising facts about Koala bears
• Why don't koalas used to drink water but often do it?