Cuddly Koalas

Job 35:11

“Who teacheth us more than the beasts of the earth, and maketh us wiser than the fowls of heaven?” 

There is one activity almost compulsory for visitors to certain parts of Australia. That is, to have one's photograph taken with a koala. While kangaroos may be the most iconic Australian marsupial, the koala is surely the most endearing. Their apparent slothfulness, their large noses and attractive faces make them particularly photogenic. In fact, they are capable of some rapid movement through trees and are not always as docile as they appear.

Apart from their appearance, the other most well-known trait of the koala is its diet. It seems to live almost exclusively on the leaves of eucalyptus trees. Actually, they cannot even eat all eucalypts. They survive on about 30 species of the plant. Eucalypt leaves are rich in a pungent oil, and this would cause most other animals a problem with digestion. Koalas produce cytochrome P450, which is able to break down the difficult chemicals from the eucalyptus oil in a large caecum, attached to the intestines. This sort of mechanism will always raise a question for evolutionists. Did the koala start eating eucalypts first, and then evolved the systems to digest them? If so, would not the first couple of generations have been poisoned before evolution could occur? If the digestive systems evolved before the dietary behavior, then what evolutionary advantage would the koala accrue from such systems?

God has made so many magnificent and wonderful animals all over the world. It is astounding to see the meticulous design produced by our Creator God.

What wonderful animals You have made, Lord. And how we praise You for Your creativity in the enormous varieties You have made. Amen.

Ref: Creation 11(4):16–20—September 1989. Image: Arnaud Gaillard, CC BY-SA 4.0 international. 

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