CHAN
Okay, first things first. The koarrect way to say my name is
"Shan", as in short for "Chantelle". Also, please don't
call me a koala bear. We look like bears, but we're actually marsupials – a.k.a
pouched mammals. Yes, like kangaroos!
Now that we've gotten these sorted, it's time to get
ourselves acquainted! You'll usually find me asleep on my favourite branch.
Hey, a girl's gotta get a good spot, especially when we spend 18 to 22 hours a
day on our beauty sleep!
When I'm not sleeping, I love to explore my surroundings.
We've dropped by Kai Kai and Jia Jia's place – whoa impressive! I wish they'd
stop to talk, but they seemed too busy with their bamboo that day.
My keeper (the one I was named after) says that pandas eat
about 20kg of bamboo every day. That seems like a lot, considering we koalas
only need 500g of eucalypt leaves, tops. Hey, maybe I should review my diet!
IDALIA
Being the baby of the bunch has its good points. I can get
away with everything. Like the other day, I didn't feel like eating my food.
So, I stuffed it all in the tiny pouches in my cheeks. That made me feel very
clever, until I discovered every koala can do it.
But that's ok. I'll go for more walkabouts and find new
things to do. Now that I am in Singapore, I want to meet new friends too. I am
basically friendly with everyone – from other koalas, to humans and non-koalas
too.
But, between you and me, I am a little terrified of dogs,
foxes and pythons. Mama told me, they love to eat koalas, especially small ones
like me! So you won't find me near them anytime soon.
PADDLE
Hello! My name is Paddle. I love kids. In fact, I have all
the koalafications to be a mother, but I don't have any joeys of my own, yet.
That's a good thing, otherwise I wouldn't be able to come visit you here in
Singapore with my girlfriends!
I'm looking forward to spending some koalaty time with them,
and you of course. At Singapore Zoo, I get to meet a lot of little human joeys.
The bunch of them must be very clever at school, because they seem to all wear
specs. Some of them are a little shy, like me.
I don't like loud noises, unless it's the sound of joeys
laughing and having an ace time. When joeys cry, many other koalas crawl up a
faraway tree. But not me. I'll come over and say 'G'day mate' and give the
little guy a nice Paddle hug.
PELLITA
Hello, I'm Pellita. After some research, I discovered that I
was named after the best koala brain food in the world - the Eucalyptus
Pellita! It's a scientific fact that this delicious green grows in North Queensland,
Australia although other species of eucalyptus grow in many parts of the world.
Yes, tropical Singapore included!
We koalas do love our eucalyptus like Singaporeans love
Chilli Crab! It's just about the only thing we eat. Not that I'm complaining.
But if you are thinking how boring it must be to eat the same thing all the
time, think again! There are over 700 species of eucalyptus so that's a lot of
flavours on the menu!
And what do we like to drink with our food? The truth is, we
koalas don't drink much water. You shouldn't try that at home because research
shows that humans need their 8 glasses a day. We koalas get enough just from
the eucalypt leaves!
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