If you’ve ever read a koala book or watched a TV show about these shy creatures, you’ll know that they live almost exclusively in trees. Over thousands of years their bodies have become adapted for this lifestyle, meaning they thrive where other animals would struggle to survive. Here, we explore how koalas are adapted to climbing trees.

Hands, feet and claws

Like humans, koalas have distinctive hands and feet rather than paws. These have rough pads on their palms and soles, which provide traction and help them to grip tree trunks and branches. They also have long, sharp claws. These act like hooks, providing extra grip on trees with smooth bark and enabling them to dig into the surface of a large trunk to secure themselves if necessary. Koalas have five digits on both their hands and feet. Their hands have two opposable digits to enhance their grip, while their feet have one opposable digit each. These work like a human’s thumb, giving the animals  security when climbing and helping them to handle small branches better.

Strong limbs

Grip is important for climbing trees, but so is strength. Koalas climb by moving their limbs alternately and using their arms to pull them up while their legs provide the push. Their thighs are muscular, helping them to generate that upward force, and one special adaptation they have is that their thigh muscles attach lower on the shin than most mammals, which improves their climbing strength. Their front and back limbs are almost equal in length, helping them to support their weight as they climb.

Built in cushioning

Koalas can’t climb all the time - in fact, they need up to 20 hours of sleep every day. For resting, they have developed a thick pad of cartilage at the base of their spine. This acts as a built in cushion, allowing them to sit on branches and in the forks of trees comfortably.

How fast can koalas climb?

Koalas may look like slow, sleepy creatures - and indeed they do generally move slowly to conserve energy - but they are capable of travelling pretty fast. They are thought to be able to run at speeds of up to 18mph (30km/h) on the ground, and can get up a tree very fast. They are also excellent judges of distance and angle, and can jump distances of up to two metres between branches. This saves them climbing down and back up again if they want to move between trees.

Join Kevin the Koala

If you’ve read Rachel Bright and Jim Field’s koala picture book, The Koala Who Could, you’re sure to love the family theatre show, which retells the story of Kevin the koala with songs, dancing and stunning puppetry. Aimed at children aged three and up, it’s the perfect introduction to theatre, being just 55 minutes long with no interval. Join Kevin on his adventure and book your tickets to this heartwarming koala show today.