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Life In The Trees
by Naomi Mwai, age 7
There are many
animals that spend their entire life in trees. Throughout their lives,
koalas will only go down from a tree to move between them.
A
koala’s native habitat is the forests of Australia where all the days of
its life are spent going from tree to tree. It eats only eucalyptus
leaves and can live up to 18 years. Located on its back, the female
koala’s pouch opens upside down. At birth, a baby koala is the size of
penny and stays in its mom’s pouch for the first six months of life.
The
koala’s body parts are very helpful to its lifestyle. Their claws help
them climb eucalyptus trees, while their hands give them better grip and
help with grooming. They also have sensitive nose hairs that help them
to distinguish between different kinds of eucalyptus leaves.
A
wombat is a close relative to the koala. Wombats and koalas both live in
the forest, but the wombat lives on the forest floor and underground,
while the koala spends all of its time in trees. Koalas and wombats both
have similar backward facing pouches. They also both share similar
traits such as small cheek pouches and a tiny tail.
[Source:
The Encyclopedia of Animals
]
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