We are excited to announce the addition of a new AustraLearn family member: Tim Tam! As of December 2009, AustraLearn has adopted a baby koala at Rainforestation in Cairns, Queensland, Australia. Rainforestation is a unique nature and cultural park which all AustraLearn Culture and Adventure Program participants get the chance to visit. The baby has yet to emerge from the pouch, so we are eagerly awaiting his/her arrival into the world! The Votes are in - and the Winner is... After tallying all of the more than 200 votes received from around the world the winner is: TIM TAM! Thank you to AustraLearn Alumna Kathleen Wamser and AustraLearn staff member Dan O'Brien and family for suggesting the winning name! 
 Kate Wamser Dan O'Brien The staff at Rainforestation could not be more pleased with the outcome: "'Tim Tam' sounds very Australian, all nations love Tim Tams, and it fits in with a theme we have currently running with some other new babies, such as "Pavlova" and "Lamington". Tim Tam's a natural... 
Tim Tam and Mum at Rainforestation Photo by: Russell Hosp Why are we adopting a koala? CONSERVATION groups have warned that cuddly koala bears could be EXTINCT within just 30 years. Deforestation, Climate Change and Disease Threaten these Unique Creatures
The iconic Australian marsupial is in danger of being wiped out because of disease, climate change and urban growth, and deforestation. Recent surveys estimate there could be as few as 43,000 koalas now living in the wild compared to 100,000 just 6 years ago. Koalas are currently a long way from extinction, however the Australian Koala Foundation has said if the "drastic decline" continues, koalas will be "wiped off the planet within 30 years".
Specifically, there are regional areas of Australia where traditional populations of these animals are under threat due to urban development and deforestation. Koalas have enjoyed a protected species status since YEAR, however they do not thrive in all environments and require the unique eucalyptus forests for survival. Koalas are being pushed out of their natural habitat by urban growth and additional are dying from a disease called Chlamydia, infecting the eyes and causing blindness, and compromising the koala's fertility.
Humans are not the only factor in the koala’s loss of habitat. Koalas face an uncertain future as their fragmented habitats shift in response to climate change, fire, and drought. For example, St. Bees Island off the coast of Queensland is changing from "a koala-friendly forest to a koala-unfriendly forest," said Alistair Melzer, an ecologist at CQUniversity.
Melzer has studied koalas for nearly 20 years and the St. Bees Island koalas for 8 years. Koalas exclusively eat the leaves of eucalyptus trees. There are more than 700 species of eucalyptus, but the marsupials prefer the leaves of only a handful. As the favored eucalyptus species disappear from the forest, St. Bees Island will eventually become unsuitable for the koalas and the resident population will likely go extinct. Until recently, the St. Bees population had been considered unusually stable, and was intended to serve as a model for helping struggling populations elsewhere in Australia.
Sources and Resources: National Geographic
Discovery
Australian Koala Foundation
| | Tim Tam makes the news in Australia! The Cairns Post featured Tim Tam and AustraLearn students on February 1, 2010 - View the article online Download the printed article (pdf)
| | Picture taken at Rainforestation, Queensland, Australia KOALA FACTS -
Though often called the "koala bear," this cuddly animal is not a bear at all; it is a marsupial, or pouched mammal. After birth, a female carries a single baby in its pouch for about six months. When the infant emerges, it rides on its mother's back or clings to her belly, accompanying her everywhere until it is about a year old.
Koalas live in eastern Australia, where the eucalyptus trees they love are most plentiful. In fact, they rarely leave these trees, and their sharp claws and opposable digits easily keep them aloft. During the day they doze, tucked into forks or nooks in the trees, sleeping for up to 18 hours.
When not asleep a koala feeds on eucalyptus leaves, especially at night. Koalas do not drink much water and they get most of their moisture from these leaves. Each animal eats a tremendous amount for its size—about two and a half pounds (one kilogram) of leaves a day. Koalas even store snacks of leaves in pouches in their cheeks.
A special digestive system—a long gut—allows koalas to break down the tough eucalyptus leaves and remain unharmed by their poison. Koalas eat so many of these leaves that they take on a distinctive odor from their oil, reminiscent of cough drops.
These plump, fuzzy mammals were widely hunted during the 1920s and 1930s, and their populations plunged. Helped by reintroduction, they have reappeared over much of their former range, but their populations are smaller and scattered. Koalas need a lot of space—about 100 trees per animal—a pressing problem as Australia's woodlands continue to shrink.
Source: National Geographic | | 
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