If you’ve ever curled up with a cuddly koala book like Rachel Bright’s The Koala Who Could, you’ll know that these cute critters are happiest when clinging to a tree and taking life slow. But what does a day in the life of a real koala look like? Let’s explore…

An average day

Much like Kevin in Rachel Bright’s koala picture book, real koalas are solitary animals that live in the treetops. Depending on where they live and the quality of their habitat, each koala has a home range of between 1km and 135km. This overlaps with the home ranges of other koalas enough to allow for mating.

A day in the life of a koala is pretty slow and chilled out. Their low energy diet of eucalyptus leaves means they need lots of sleep - usually between 18 and 20 hours each day! Eucalyptus leaves are actually toxic and koalas expend a lot of energy breaking them down and neutralising the toxins. They sleep mostly during daylight hours. 

One to three hours of each day - usually at dawn and dusk - are spent eating. A feeding session can last for anywhere between 20 minutes and two hours. Eucalyptus forms the main part of a koala’s diet, but they also eat the leaves of the brush box, paperback and bloodwood trees. They eat about 500g each day - about the size of a lettuce. The leaves contain enough water that koalas don’t need to climb down from their trees to get a drink, except during very hot or dry spells. 

The remainder of the day might be spent moving between branches or trees, grooming or, occasionally,  engaging in social behaviour. 

A day during mating season

Koalas are more active during the warmer months, when they mate. In spring (September to November in Australia) koalas that are ready to mate will call out as a way of telling their neighbours that they’re around. They will also move between the trees looking for a mate, and males will even fight each other to establish their dominance. As they move between trees, koalas will mark them with their scent to warn off competition.

Spring is also the time of year when young koalas move away from their mothers to claim a territory of their own. Between the age of one and two years old they tend to stay near their mum’s home range, after which they might move further afield. 

Meet Kevin the koala

If you like books on koalas, don’t miss The Koala Who Could theatre show. Based on Rachel Bright’s award-winning picture book, it uses puppets to tell the story of Kevin, a koala who learns that taking a chance can bring wonderful new things. Suitable for kids aged three and up, it’s a fantastic introduction to theatre for little ones, being just 55 minutes long with no interval. Discover tour dates and locations online and book tickets at your local venue today.