Thirsty Koalas Lick Trees – The Verge – FUTURE TV

Koalas lick tree trunks to quench their thirst when it rains, according to scientists. It changes what biologists thought a lot about koalas – that they get almost all the water they need from the eucalyptus leaves they eat.

But koalas probably lick water like many animals, except they do it from trees, according to the findings published in the journal today. Ethology. With fires, heat waves, and droughts that put more stress on creatures, scientists have been paying close attention to how koalas stay hydrated.

“This significantly alters our understanding of how koalas obtain water in the wild. It’s very exciting, “lead author of Ethology Valentina Mella, a researcher for the newspaper and the University of Sydney, said in a statement.

Image: University of Sydney

The surprising discovery was made with the help of independent citizen scientists and ecologists who had observed the behavior of koalas in the wild between 2006 and 2019. A koala was caught holding up the rain for more than 30 minutes, “at a constant rate “two licks per second. In total, they documented 46 cases of koalas drinking on trees during and after the rain. Koalas were recorded drinking each time observations were made in the rain. According to Mella, one of the reasons why scientists haven’t realized this before is because people are less likely to go looking for them in bad weather. Marsupials seem to prefer smooth parts of trees where dripping water is easier to collect.

Koalas are considered vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, which tracks endangered species. They were devastated by massive wildfires that swept across Australia late last year. Nearly a third of all koalas were believed to have been killed in the state of New South Wales, which was the most affected by the fires.

The same hot, dry conditions that fueled the flames left the koalas parched. The photos and videos of koalas approaching people to drink went viral as fires swept across Australia last year.

Even before the last fires, Mella’s previous research found that climate change was leaving koalas thirsty. In 2017, koalas were captured by the standing camera to drink in the artificial water stations installed by the researchers, a very unusual behavior for animals that spend most of their lives in eucalyptus.

Kate Wilson

At the time, Mella and her colleagues thought the behavior was due to higher temperatures and changing rain patterns drying the leaves that koalas eat. Now, she and her co-authors on the new article think less rain could be another more direct factor, leaving koalas with less rainwater to fall from the tree trunks they call home.

Mella is currently raising money to continue his research and establish more drinking stations for koalas. She hopes that the drink stations, which are placed in the trees, give the koalas a safe way to cool down even as the world around them continues to heat up.