Most people instinctively understand which wild animals are dangerous. Few precious people should be told that a moose, a bear, a lion or a snake can hurt you, and most of the people only must learn a lesson with bees or wasps once!
But not all animals are dangerous, and to make it even harder, some animals should not Look dangerous If dangerous. You cannot afford any mistakes while you’re in the course of a survival situation or simply having fun with your time outdoors.
How about cute, cuddly koalas? Are koalas dangerous?
Koalas aren’t particularly dangerous, but they’ll still hurt you, and really badly. In the wild, they’re unfriendly and even aggressive, and have large teeth and claws that may inflict damage. They are surprisingly nasty animals and carry diseases that may infect humans.
I comprehend it almost seems cruel that an animal so cute and charismatic is definitely some type of nasty little gremlin, nevertheless it’s true. You never wish to get near koalas within the wild because they’re unpredictable and surprisingly mean.
Attacks on humans are very rare, but they occur. Later in this text, I’ll let you know what it’s essential find out about koalas and the potential threat they pose to humans…
Koala overview, temperament and habitat
Koalas, sometimes called koala bears, should not bears in any respect, nor do they even have the same food plan to bears.
Unlike bears, that are omnivores, koalas are obligate herbivores and feed exclusively on plant matter, mainly eucalyptus leaves harvested from the trees of the eucalyptus forests where they sometimes live.
Koalas are frequently not lively through the day and crawl and punctiliously at night.
Koalas spend most of their lives and most of their time alone, unless it’s a mother and cub or an annual mating of men and women.
Occasionally, small groups of koalas may stay together on friendly terms. In any case, a koala is unlikely to indicate aggression unless humans come too close.
You’ll be pleased to know that the supposedly mythical ferocity of koalas and their propensity to drop on the heads of individuals passing under their trees is a made-up urban legend that Indigenous Australians are too completely satisfied to propagate.
Do koalas protect their territory?
Usually not. A koala that runs right into a tree where there isn’t a other tree close by can develop into aggressive, but is often not terribly territorial.
Do koalas behave aggressively towards one another?
Yes definitely. Most koalas want nothing to do with other koalas, unless it is a mother caring for her young or males courting females through the mating season.
Even then, mating rituals between koalas are inclined to be brutal. There’s loads of fighting, submissions, injuries and chaos.
In other cases, koalas have been known to guard their favorite trees and food sources from intruders. As mentioned above, you generally won’t see many koalas hanging around together.
Are koalas a threat to humans?
Yes, although that is rare. Koalas can growl and make barking sounds if people get too close or if the mother is attempting to protect her young.
In just about all cases, koalas will only threaten humans when humans encroach on or antagonize their territory.
Have koala attacks on humans been recorded?
Yes, although these are very rare cases and virtually unheard of fatalities. Attacks didn’t occur until the Twenties, although most of them resulted from people getting too near koalas within the wild.
However, in just a few cases, koalas that were injured or stuck within the wild or in swimming pools attacked their rescuers in a panic.
What will cause a koala to attack an individual?
Getting too near a koala in a tree or on the bottom, especially when there isn’t a other way out, can trigger aggression.
Koalas have been videotaped happening the offensive when pushed too far, charging at humans and slashing or biting their legs and grabbing onto them.
Another great strategy to incite a koala to violence is by antagonizing the mother with the cubs or messing with a young koala that has been separated from its mother.
Males are also very aggressive and agitated through the mating season and should fly off the handle seemingly for no reason.
How strong is the koala?
Koalas are stronger than you may think, although they lack the brute strength of other, larger wild animals.
Koalas can easily drag themselves and their babies straight up trees and hang from branches, so that they have some muscles. This implies that they’ll easily injure you with their claws or teeth.
Just because they appear like lazy little sacks of fluffy fur does not imply they cannot hurt you!
Can koalas bite?
Yes and they’ll! Although koalas only eat plants, and most of their teeth are optimized for this purpose, they’ve a set of larger front teeth which might be mainly incisors.
These teeth can easily inflict a nasty stab wound, and in several recorded encounters between koalas and humans, koalas have been shown to bite humans and just stick around.
That’s not good, and you actually don’t desire to risk being bitten by considered one of those nasty little creatures.
What does a koala attack appear like?
Koalas attack by charging after which scratching or biting. That’s all they’ll really do, and most victims who don’t try to the touch them have wounds on their legs and lower limbs.
Contrary to urban legend, koalas don’t lurk within the treetops, waiting for people to pass under them before plunging onto them.
Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, in case you love cryptids, the “bear” story is just that: a tall tale.
How do you react to a koala attack?
The neatest thing you possibly can do to react to a koala attack is to easily run away. Any human who shouldn’t be crippled can have a straightforward time escaping the koalas on earth.
The only time they are going to give you the chance to successfully outmaneuver a human is once they are climbing treetops with them.
But if for any reason you possibly can’t escape the koala or it’s already on you before you possibly can react, use whatever item you have got at hand to shield yourself from the animal and take a look at to fend it off.
Use a branch, backpack, tent pole or whatever and hit the koala if mandatory to drive it away.
More importantly, avoid being bitten by a koala. The bites of virtually any wild animal are highly prone to infection, and koalas are shockingly nasty. More on that in a minute.
Will a Koala Eat a Human?!
NO. If for any reason a koala stumbled across a dead body or, incredibly, was in a position to kill someone, it still would not eat you.
Koalas are obligate herbivores and feed exclusively on plant matter, not meat.
Can humans catch diseases from koalas?
Yes, indeed they’ll. Koalas are surprisingly nasty animals, even in comparison with the various filthy creatures that roam the wilds.
In fact, koalas carry one surprising but really nasty disease that folks catch on a regular basis anyway – chlamydia!
As disgusting as that sounds, it’s true. Koalas don’t show any outward signs of symptoms, however the overwhelming majority of the koala population is a carrier of this germ.
And before you ask, yes, it’s the identical variety of chlamydia because the STD you learned about in sex education.
And before a few of you ask, no, this shouldn’t be infected by the sick who impose themselves on these creatures: it’s transmitted by easy contact, and particularly by injuries.
Koalas often transmit chlamydia through urine, and since koalas should not very clean, it could be assumed that they’ve urine on their bodies.
Any open wounds or sores on the skin might be very prone to Chlamydia infection.
In all cases, in case you come into close contact with a koala within the wild, whether or not it actually bites or scratches you, you’ll be wanting to see a health care provider as soon as possible to get tested and receive preventive treatment.
