An insight into natural koala drinking behaviour

Koalas are thought to have little need to drink because they gain the majority of the water that they require to survive from the water content in the leaves that they feed on. In this manuscript, we expand beyond the handful of incidental observations of koala drinking reported in the literature an...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inEthology Vol. 126; no. 8; pp. 858 - 863
Main Authors Mella, Valentina S. A., Orr, Caitlin, Hall, Lachlan, Velasco, Sabrina, Madani, George, Goymann, Wolfgang
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Hamburg Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.08.2020
Subjects
Animal behavior
animal behaviour
arboreal herbivore
Drinking
Drinking behavior
folivore
free water
marsupial
Moisture content
novel behaviour
Water content
Weather
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Summary:Koalas are thought to have little need to drink because they gain the majority of the water that they require to survive from the water content in the leaves that they feed on. In this manuscript, we expand beyond the handful of incidental observations of koala drinking reported in the literature and describe natural koala drinking behaviour in the wild at different locations in Australia and across a range of weather conditions, discussing how koalas may have stronger reliance on free water than previously thought.
ISSN:0179-1613
1439-0310
DOI:10.1111/eth.13032