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Sleepless nights!


Sleepless nights!
Photo Information
Copyright: Japie Venter (japie) Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1814 W: 100 N: 1904] (5187)
Genre: Animals
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2004-09-24
Categories: Mammals
Camera: Canon EOS 300D, Tamron 28-300XR, Skylight
Exposure: f/10.0, 1/2 seconds
Details: Tripod: Yes
Photo Version: Original Version
Theme(s): Zoo animals, 40 points or more - 40 puntos o más, Pretoria Zoo 1, A - Z of Mammals [view contributor(s)]
Date Submitted: 2004-09-24 15:28
Viewed: 7246
Favorites: 4 [view]
Points: 46
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
If only I could sleep this peaceful. In general I do not like posting images captured in a zoo, but I had to post this one. I spent the day at the Pretoria Zoo and with my family and took this (through glass)in the Aussy exhibition.

This Koala being a nocturnal animal was fast asleep in the fork of a tree and it seemed so peaceful, a real Ahh moment.

The Koala has no relation to a bear. It is a distant cousin to the Wombat and both the Koala and the Wombats have fossil history over 15 million years. The Koala is Australia's most popular and most loved marsupial mammal.

A Koala has a woolly coat with large fluffy ears, a bulbous nose and almost no tail. A Koala is nocturnal. This means it sleeps during the day in the fork of a tree and eats after dark. Its strong claws allows it to be a strong climber.

The Koala feeds on selected eucalyptus leaves. Other animals couldn't digest the oils and poisons in eucalyptus leaves, but the Koala's digestive system has evolved to accommodate this.

The female Koala has one young a year. The baby Koala sucks on two nipples in its mother¹s backward-opening pouch for seven months. It rides on mum's back and is weaned at 1 year onto eucalyptus leaves.

Most of the day, the koalas sleep in a fork of a tree. They move about and feed at night though most of their activity takes place just after sunset.

Koalas are skillful climbers, getting up tree trunks by clasping them with the sharp claws of their 'hands' and then bringing the hind feet up together in a bounding movement. When walking on a branch koalas grip with the first toe of the hind foot and with the first two digits of the 'hand' opposed to the other three. Koalas may also move about covering quite some distances on the ground, bounding along merrily, using the hind legs in much the same way as they climb or walk quadrupedally.

Because most koalas observed in daytime tend to look lethargic, an amateur theory developed about animal's weird 'drug addictions'.

This theory claimed that koalas were hooked on eucalyptus oils found in gum leaves as these contained some sedative drug turning the koalas into the most beloved addicts.

Scientists have debunked this belief. Koalas do love gum leaves - but these contain no drugs. In fact, only a few species of eucalyptus are suitable for food trees and the koalas need a varied diet from their leaves.

Eucalyptus leaves have a very high fiber and low protein content. They contain strong -smelling oils, phenolic compounds and sometimes even cyanide precursors which makes them unpleasant or even poisonous for most mammals.

To cope with this diet, koalas had to make several adaptations, most notably develop an enlarged caesum - first part of the large intestine, crudely 'blind gut' - in which microbial fermentation takes place.


Eucalyptus leaves have high water content, so koalas normally don't need to drink as they obtain enough water from the leaves.
alainh, Crypton, carper, PDP, Signal-Womb, ellis49, RAP, TAZ, AndyB, milloup, Lourens, jhm, kikvel, gerhardt, Callie, gazo, rabani, Motrem, Leace has marked this note useful
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Discussions
ThreadThread Starter Messages Updated
To elizemeijer: Shooting through glassjapie 2 09-24 16:39
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Critiques [Translate]

Bonjour Japie.
quelle jolie peluche.
une tres belle photo. Ce gris et ce marron vont bien ensembles. Quelle netteté !
Chut, pas de bruit ..
alain

this is PRECIOUS !!! I love how peaceful it is.. Like he knows nothing can harm him. he looks like a cuddly toy..

I always battle to shoot through glass, my reflection somehow always land up in there.

Very NICE.. well done

une tres belle photo plaine de tendresse :)
rien a redire, tous est bon !
merci.

  • Great 
  • carper Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1973 W: 119 N: 2582] (8439)
  • [2004-09-24 16:27]

It's a man,
What a nice shot Japie,
Very good composition, with good colours, very nice one and a great note, well done Japie.

  • Great 
  • PDP Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor [C: 2821 W: 344 N: 3779] (11769)
  • [2004-09-24 16:53]

Awwww, he looks so relaxed in his sleep. Good composition and colours. Great note. Excellent work.

Its very adorable little fellow and makes for a great photo Japie. Well done.

Great Japie.
Very good compo, good colours and
a very good note.
Great job.
Well done.

  • Great 
  • RAP Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2524 W: 345 N: 2373] (7405)
  • [2004-09-24 18:13]

Adorable... no hay otra definicion para estos animales.
Bonita imagen con colores maravillosos y un encuadre perfecto.
Gracias por compartir esta foto con nosotros.

Adorable... there is no another definition for these animals.
Pretty image with wonderful colors and a perfect frame.
Thanks for sharing this photo with us.

  • Great 
  • TAZ Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2241 W: 47 N: 3167] (10926)
  • [2004-09-25 0:34]

Même si il vient d'un zoo, il très mignon ! Jolie composition aux couleurs agréables.
Well done !

  • Great 
  • AndyB Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1366 W: 32 N: 1351] (3982)
  • [2004-09-25 5:23]

A nice shot.
I wouldnt have guessed that this was shot through glass.
Very good detail and a great note too.

Wonderful. The color and sharpness are great. It looks very comfortable how this Koala sleeps there.

What a fuzzy, cuddly, loveable little koala boy you captured here - real Aussie laid-back style, too ;-)) Beautiful capture.

Very nice shot, Japie. Yes, I don't like animals in cages either - but it does give us the chance to see some exotic creatures. I must say that the animals are kept in as habitat - friendly cages as is possible. Thanks for the informative note.

  • Great 
  • jhm Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 893 W: 0 N: 507] (1853)
  • [2004-09-26 2:46]

Uw nota is overweldigend Japie, inderdaad het is een mannetje dit is duidelijk, wat een snoezig Koala beertje, bedankt voor ons dit te laten zien, zeer mooi werk, en mooi gedaan!

Hi Japie:

Nice posting, perfect capture and extensive notes!!!

I like it very much.

Thanks

K!

Ek is so spyt ek het nie gegaan nie. Kyk net wat jy gekry het. :groen:groen:groen
This is a special capture Japie, I think you managed to capture the tenderness of this critter to perfection. Great shot. Great note.

Nice note Japie, en daardie 2 pere is onweerstaanbaar! Very nice picture and compo here, no clue that it was taken in the zoo! Mooi man!

  • Great 
  • gazo Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Note Writer [C: 72 W: 0 N: 13] (91)
  • [2004-10-13 16:42]

Wonderfull picture. Very sharp. It makes me melt. Bravo!

Your note is very informative as well as interesting to read Japie. Together with your photo, a good combination for a study material. I actually read your note like a story, instead of just scanning for important facts. I enjoy reading your note and seeing the cuddly lovely koala.

On the toes I arrive to contemplate this beautiful koala noiselessly. Fell! He sleeps as an angel and he is so artless. Beautiful composition and very beautiful colours. Good shot!

Sur la pointe des pieds j'arrive pour contempler ce joli koala sans faire de bruit. Chut! Il dort comme un ange et il est tellement candide. Jolie composition et très belles couleurs. Merci de partager avec nous.

Vos photos sont toutes magnifique, c'est donc vers celle de l'annimal le plus rare que je me tourne pour vous noter.

Fantastic photo

  • Great 
  • manyee Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 3089 W: 230 N: 6774] (23770)
  • [2005-04-16 12:24]

This one is precious, Japie. You caught him in an adorable pose. Great composition with good details and light. TFP.

Hi, I had to correct your description of the Australian Koala! You have described it as "Australia's most popular and most loved marsupial mammal"...Most Australian's think of this animal as a stinky contancrous sratchy little brat!!! It will piss all over you and you cannot wash the smell off very easily. You can be smelled from hundreds of metres away.

But we like overseas visitors to think it is cuddly and cute and a lot of them get a wet surprise when holding one.

By the way, excellent photo though and a great shot of his crown jewels...Doninoz

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