Koalas depend on eucalyptus trees for shelter and food. They sleep about 20 hours a day and sit and munch food for 1 to 3 hours a day. When large numbers of koalas are trapped in small pockets of vegetation they have been known to eat themselves out of eucalyptus leaves and then suffer a population crash. Culling is often proposed as a solution to such overpopulation but because of their icon status this option is not used. Instead the government has implemented expensive sterilization and relocation programs. (photo by Vanessa Chiang, Redeemer 2005)
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