HiTLeR Posted August 1, 2020 Posted August 1, 2020 Sleeping It Off Koalas sleep about 18 hours a day, according to Wildlife Extra. Because they are nocturnal animals, they will sleep most of the day away, waking up sometimes to move around or to interact with other koalas. At night koalas wake up to eat - although they do sometimes take naps throughout the night, especially if there's nothing exciting going on. Searching For Food When awake, koalas spend a good amount of their time "exploring" the eucalyptus trees in the area, searching for the right leaves to eat. That's because koalas eat only eucalyptus - and not every kind. Of the several hundred species of eucalyptus in existence, koalas eat only a few. Even then, not every koala eats the same kind. For example, koalas in Western Australia might eat a different type of eucalyptus than koalas on the eastern coast, simply because the same type is not available on both coasts. What's With All the Sleeping Koalas need to sleep for long hours because of their diets. For starters, the koala's diet is very high in fiber and very low in calories. As a result, the koalas don't have a lot of energy to spare, so they must sleep long hours to conserve as much energy as possible. Also, the leaves are difficult and slow to digest because of their fibrous consistence, so sleeping is a good way to let the body go through the digestion process without spending too much energy on other things - like moving around. Talking to the Neighbors Koalas are very social animals and form close family and friendship bonds. Only a limited number of koalas can live in a certain forest, because the amount of food wouldn't otherwise be enough. Those living in the area will communicate with each other through a series of noises and snore-like sounds. So at least part of the day is spent with the koalas "talking" to each other.
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