Isidora Sánchez

Reaction paper on “Koalas hugs trees to beat the heat”

By Nicole Hamamé and Isidora Sanchéz

Concerning the article “Koalas hug trees to beat the heat” published by Discover Magazine on November 7, 2016, refers to the fact that koalas hugs trees for another reason apart from their instinct to not fall out of the tree. It was discovered by scientists that koalas, on the hottest days, huddle on trees to cool off by sweating. They search for the coolest trees to sleep on and rest against them while they do an exchange of temperature to keep themselves with a low heat.

Firstly, we think that the method koalas use to keep their heat low, is an interesting one. Because they live the majority of their lives on trees, and because they are slow animals, they have to use a different system to regulate their temperature on hot days. It amaze us how this certain animals create their own system to adapt to the environment where they live and through this method they learn to survive. We are pretty sure that if the climate changes, they would also adapt to it. We learned that koalas are the last existing species of their family tree and it is just because they were able to build a system that protected them from the heat. Also their subspecies variates from their hair color to their height and size depending on the place where they live.

Secondly, we think it is important to take care of the nature in this type of places. Forest and areas with a high amount of trees is where koalas live the majority of their lives, and without them koalas would become extinct. They use the trees to sleep and rest in them, eat their leaves, and actually, to survive. It is essential to take care of trees, so, at the same time, we take care of this amazing specie that needs them just as us. Furthermore, tree felling should be stopped in order to prevent koala’s extinction. A lot of species had been extinct by men’s fault and we do nothing to stop this. This situation should not happen because every kind of animal is important to the planet and to keep a normal life cycle. We must be more conscious and take responsibility of our planet and realize the way we are treating it is affecting us all, including the animals.

In brief, the planet is our big house and we must manage to keep it safe and in good condition so we do not damage it more than it is nowadays. Several species lives in here and also us. Keeping this planet safe, we also keep safe koalas and its particular system that they use to maintain a normal body temperature.