Koalas hug trees to keep cool in the summer.
Summers in the northern part of NSW and up into QLD can become very hot, and particularly humid. One strategy koalas have to keep a bit cool is to hug large tree trunks.
Remember koalas do not drink water, so they need to find a way to cool down that does not remove moisture from their body.
Animals like dogs pant with their mouths open, but this causes a lot of moisture to be released.
Animals like horses sweat, and this is really effective, but again it causes a lot of moisture to be lost.
So koalas get up against a large tree trunk, and hug it putting as much of their body right up against it as possible as the tree will be much cooler than the koala.
How’s that for a smart move?
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