Greetings once and for all. Friday, August 31, marked the end of my 12-week internship working with the koala females at the San Diego Zoo (see previous blog, A Female Koala in Summer Heat). I will miss spending early mornings watching Cooladi sleep and late evenings watching the exhibit girls interact. I will miss the crisp scent of eucalyptus leaves and the sonorous male bellows.

With all the sad goodbyes, I know that I have left a little something of me behind at the Zoo. This summer has been full of cute koalas and interesting research challenges. As I wrapped up my research projects on estrus studies and activity budgets and enclosure use, I reflect on the results of my research.

Analyzing the data I collected from the outside koala girls, I found that they exhibited an activity budget similar to koalas observed in the wild. Ninety percent of the time they either slept or rested. Of the time they were active, they spent the majority of the time eating. Some life, huh? However, these results are a good sign. The more they sleep, the more it tells us that the koalas are comfortable in their enclosure and adjusting well to being in the public eye. So I think it’s safe to say that the koalas, like true celebrities, are basking in all the adoring attention they receive from the visitors each day.

Another interesting tidbit that emerged from my data is that each koala has a favorite perch! Pendicup and Wonne warra both vie for the shady perches under the hut. You can often see them perched next to each other as they claim the perch with the most shade. Orana likes to spend the day in a perch close to the neighboring boy koala, Rokeby. Perhaps she likes spending her days soaking up the sun and enjoying his attention. What a true Southern Californian lifestyle! Yabber, if visitors haven’t already noticed, spends her time on the metal railings near the back fence. She will spend hours perched there, looking out onto the parking lot and all the comings and goings of Zoo visitors and staff.

Besides studying the koala girls on exhibit, I also worked with Cooladi, who is housed in an off-exhibit facility. A large part of the reason why I studied Cooladi was to assist the keepers with their colony management. The San Diego Zoo prides itself on being one of the biggest contributors to captive koala breeding. Keepers need to know when to introduce a male and female for mating. Keepers will look for signs of estrus in a female, such as increased amounts of activity, bellowing, or paying more attention to the males. The study I did with Cooladi looked at any behavior signs associated with her estrus cycle. In particular, I focused on how active she was and the frequency of her bellows. My data indicates that her bellows are associated with increases in activity levels, but not necessarily estrus. More studies are needed to figure out the exact relationship between theses signs. Perhaps next summer’s intern will be able to solve that puzzle!

However, I think the most interesting take-home tidbit is that koalas are four times more active in the early evening than during the day! Often I have heard visitors comment that koalas are boring, and they can’t see them perched among the eucalyptus leaves. Once the sun starts setting, the temperature cools, and the koalas become whole new animals! They will pace along the perches, munch on leaves, vocalize to each other, and even sprint along the ground.

Hopefully, my studies on the koalas proved useful. The keepers know a little more about the habits of the koalas and visitors now know the best time to see the koalas. Personally, the koalas have taught me a lot, too. They showed me how much diligence and patience it takes to be an observational researcher and how rewarding all those long hours of work can be. They have inspired me to continue exploring conservation biology so that maybe one day in the future I can help save their wild koala relatives in Australia.

I know I will be returning to the Zoo often, and all the koala girls will be there to greet me like old friends. Goodbye for now to the koala keepers and all my koala girls: Yabber, Wonne warra, Pendicup, Orana (pictured), and Cooladi!

Maressa Takahashi is a Neeper Summer Student Fellow with the San Diego Zoo’s Behavioral Biology Division.

Listen to an iZoofari Chat with Maressa discussing her studies.

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