Koalas

The crooning, adolescent faces in boy bands One Direction and the Wanted continue to dazzle the world over, and while the Ministry has been busy with Brangelina engagements and such, we've decided to take notice. Both groups, of British-Irish origin, have deftly recruited their own screaming fans and triggered a nostalgia in those folks who that grew up with the Backstreet Boys, 'NSync and 98 Degrees.  The cultural inclination is, naturally, to assume a massive feud exists between the two young groups (complete with physical confrontations )

The crooning, adolescent faces in boy bands One Direction and the Wanted continue to dazzle the world over, and while the Ministry has been busy with Brangelina engagements and such, we've decided to take notice. Both groups, of British-Irish origin, have deftly recruited their own screaming fans and triggered a nostalgia in those folks who that grew up with the Backstreet Boys, 'NSync and 98 Degrees.  The cultural inclination is, naturally, to assume a massive feud exists between the two young groups (complete with physical confrontations )

The Australian state of New South Wales will send three koalas to Japanese zoos, ending a one-year ban on exports of the cuddly marsupials imposed after several died abroad. Two young males, Bindi and Taronga, will leave this month for Tokyo's Tama Zoo. A third male will be sent to Higashiyama Zoo in Nagoya next month. New South Wales last July became the only state to ban exports after at least eight koalas died abroad in three years, many in Japanese zoos. Experts believe the cause of death was partly stress because of a change of environment.

Spring has sprung at the Los Angeles Zoo, where recent births of a koala, twin peninsular pronghorns and a desert bighorn sheep have heralded a baby boom. First came the baby koala, known as a joey. The female koala was born in July, but since newborn koalas spend about six months developing in the mother's pouch, the new joey has just recently started to emerge, zoo officials said in a statement. Next came male and female pronghorn twins, born March 1, and, 19 days later, a female bighorn sheep.

Re "Residents Fight Loss of Eucalyptus Tree Buffer," Feb.7. In an age when destruction of the rain forest in Brazil and clear-cut logging in our country are universally condemned, we discover that the Los Angeles Zoo is cutting down a lush urban forest in Encino to feed five koalas. Anthropologists tell us that the aborigines arrived in Australia 30,000 years ago. Are we to assume that since their arrival koalas have hired them to cut eucalyptus trees down to stumps so they can better enjoy the shoots the zoo would have us believe they prefer?

Freeway-adjacent residents are battling to keep what is left of a eucalyptus grove that is being slowly cut and carted off to feed koalas at the Los Angeles Zoo. The trees are needed as a noise barrier and to stave off gasoline fumes from the Ventura Freeway, residents say. Zoo officials counter that the five-acre grove was planted in 1983 to be harvested to feed koalas and was never meant to be a buffer between homes and the freeway.

Australian scientists on Monday unveiled three baby koalas produced with new artificial insemination technology designed to ensure the species' survival. The breeding techniques involve mixing sperm with a solution that prolongs its shelf life. About 25 koalas have been produced by artificial insemination with a success rate approaching that of natural mating.

Thousands of koalas are reportedly eating their food supply too quickly on Australia's Kangaroo Island, but authorities have refused to heed conservationists' pleas to reduce the population, fearing a backlash from tourists and animal rights activists. The island's estimated 30,000 koalas have stripped many of the eucalyptus trees, their sole food source, and they could eventually starve.

Two koalas that spent their summer visiting Boston's Franklin Park Zoo on loan from the San Diego Zoo are having a hard time getting through security to fly home. The sensitive, valuable marsupials cannot be flown in the cargo area and instead fly with the passengers, zookeeper Brian Rutledge told the Boston Globe. American Airlines flew the pair for free from San Diego earlier this year and was to fly them home.

A U.S. conservation group accused Australia on Saturday of not doing enough to protect the koala, saying it had nominated the furry marsupial for an endangered-species listing. The U.S. Fund for Animals said it is confident the koala would be listed under U.S. conservation law, along with other foreign species such as the snow leopard and the African elephant.

Firefighter David Tree noticed a koala moving gingerly on scorched paws as his fire patrol passed through the charred landscape of Australia's deadly wildfires. Clearly in pain, the animal stopped when it saw him. "It was amazing -- he turned around, sat on his bum and sort of looked at me . . . like, put me out of my misery," Tree said Tuesday. "I yelled out for a bottle of water. I unscrewed the bottle, tipped it up on his lips and he just took it naturally.

Australian scientists on Monday unveiled three baby koalas produced with new artificial insemination technology designed to ensure the species' survival. The breeding techniques involve mixing sperm with a solution that prolongs its shelf life. About 25 koalas have been produced by artificial insemination with a success rate approaching that of natural mating.

Thousands of koalas are reportedly eating their food supply too quickly on Australia's Kangaroo Island, but authorities have refused to heed conservationists' pleas to reduce the population, fearing a backlash from tourists and animal rights activists. The island's estimated 30,000 koalas have stripped many of the eucalyptus trees, their sole food source, and they could eventually starve.

It's not surprising that a gardening project in Encino leaves people stumped. Who would expect, after all, to find a koala food farm located between a quiet residential neighborhood and the Ventura Freeway? But that's where a eucalyptus tree plantation has been under cultivation for 22 years. Some of the eucalyptus species grown by the Los Angeles Recreation and Parks Department tower nearly 100 feet into the air.

Whenever things got awkward during DJ Kid Koala's multimedia presentation promoting his first graphic novel on Saturday at the Knitting Factory, the Vancouver-born turntablist simply faced the audience and deadpanned, "It's a book release," as if he were as momentarily nonplused as everyone else.

A koala believed to be the world's oldest documented male member of its species has died at age 19, officials said Friday. San Francisco Zoo spokeswoman Nancy Chan said Clarry the koala died Thursday at his indoor enclosure at the zoo's Koala Crossing exhibit. Officials said that according to the International Koala Stud Book kept in Melbourne, Australia, Clarry had lived longer than any other male koala documented. Some females have lived even longer.

The Australian koala and big business are becoming fast friends. The cuddly koala, its limited habitat threatened by encroaching development, is getting a financial hand from corporate sponsors who, in turn, are reaping a public relations bonanza. "The important thing I've found is that corporate support means credibility," said Debbie Tabart, executive director of the Australian Koala Foundation, a nonprofit group dedicated to saving the animal.

It's probably best that Dinki Di, Bami, Gidgee, Mary Quinn and the other koalas at the San Diego Zoo won't be making any phone calls to their ancestral home in Australia: The family news would not be good. Suddenly, the cuddly looking koala, whose charisma among animal lovers ranks second only to pandas, may be on the verge of becoming an endangered species.

Bush fires raging in Australia have likely killed or injured thousands of koalas, further stressing the national icon's fragile population, wildlife experts said. Koala populations already are threatened by human development. Their numbers will be diminished drastically by the fires burning across New South Wales state and may not recover for 15 years, the National Parks and Wildlife Service said.

Two koalas that spent their summer visiting Boston's Franklin Park Zoo on loan from the San Diego Zoo are having a hard time getting through security to fly home. The sensitive, valuable marsupials cannot be flown in the cargo area and instead fly with the passengers, zookeeper Brian Rutledge told the Boston Globe. American Airlines flew the pair for free from San Diego earlier this year and was to fly them home.