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 Phascolarctos cinereus.
This is Susie, one of our resident koalas. She now has a new friend, Blinky, a young male. Koalas live on gum leaves. There are over 30 species of eucalypt which they will eat. We give our koalas branches of at least 3 different species fresh each day. Koalas have adapted to this strange diet in various ways: they save energy by sleeping for 18 to 20 hours per day; they chew the leaves very thoroughly, to a fine paste; food stays a very long time fermenting in the gut; lastly, the koala has a small brain, because thinking takes a lot of energy.
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