While a photo of a koala fresh from a swim in an Aussie backyard might seem endearing to most, there’s a sad truth behind the reason why it might be there to start with.
A stunned homeowner discovered the native animal hugging their pool fence at their property in an undisclosed location this week, moments after taking a dip in their backyard pool.
“[It] just chilled on the fence for a few hours before moving on to a tree down the road,” they said adding it appeared to have a nap after cooling off in the water.
Shocked by the unexpected visit, the homeowner shared a couple of snaps on social media saying “[we] had a local over for a swim” alongside a picture of the marsupial which was balancing on the railing surrounding the pool.
But seeing wildlife out of their natural habitat is concerning, Megan Fabian from the Australian Wildlife Service told Yahoo News Australia — particularly if this koala was in search of some water to drink.
“Koalas are [being] displaced and negatively affected by habitat loss, urbanisation, and climate change, due to reduced available habitat,” she said. This means there are now more and more koala sightings in public places and they’re also getting hit by cars more often.
Eucalyptus trees no longer offer enough hydration
The majority of the water koalas need to survive is in the gum leaves and trees they feed on, but they also drink by licking water running down smooth tree trunks during rain, a paper released by The University of Sydney revealed. Fabian refers to this as the animal’s “tree-hugging behaviour”.
“The main purpose of [this] is to regulate their body temperature and cool down as the tree draws water up from the ground and through its trunks,” she said.
Climate change is causing “the composition/chemicals of eucalyptus leaves to change due to changes in temperature”, meaning the eucalyptus leaves they feed on no longer do the trick.
