Koala sleeping in a eucalyptus tree Mar 11, 2024

Take a cue from today"s image; this sleepy koala may inspire you to catch some Z"s. Despite being commonly called "koala bears," the koala is not a bear. Koalas are marsupials, a type of mammal that carries and nurses their young offspring in a pouch. These adorable Australian marsupials can sleep up to 20 hours a day, which helps them conserve the little energy they get from their eucalyptus-based diet. Koalas move slowly when awake, spend most of their time tucked into nooks in trees, and have a lower body temperature than other animals of their size. Koalas are herbivores and their diet consists exclusively of eucalyptus leaves. These leaves are very fibrous and difficult to digest, but koalas have a specialised digestive system that allows them to break down the tough cellulose in the leaves.

© Anton Rogozin/Getty Images

palette

Today in History

Mar 11, 2025Broken Beach in Nusa Penida, Bali, Indonesia

More Desktop Wallpapers:

Jan 31, 2025Plains zebras, South Africa
Dec 31, 2023Phra Nakhon Khiri, Thailand
Dec 28, 2025Black-and-white ruffed lemur
Nov 19, 2023Alam-Pedja Nature Reserve, Estonia
Jul 22, 2025Badlands National Park, South Dakota, United States
Feb 8, 2026Corfu, Greece
Apr 26, 2025Bruce Peninsula National Park, Ontario, Canada
Dec 6, 2025Everglades National Park, Florida
Jan 8, 2026Yellow-chevroned parakeets
Jul 18, 2024Coral reef in the Indian Ocean, Mayotte, France
Nov 28, 2025Val Brandet, Brescia, Lombardy, Italy
Sep 15, 2024Varenna on Lake Como, Italy
Jun 26, 2025Horse Head Rock, New South Wales, Australia
Jun 14, 2024Peggys Cove Lighthouse, Canada
May 3, 2024The Sonoran Desert, Arizona, USA
Dec 6, 2023Dardagna waterfalls, Bologna, Italy
Sep 6, 2025Rufous hummingbird
Dec 14, 2025Tufted titmouse
Feb 24, 2025Giant cuttlefish, Whyalla, South Australia, Australia
Oct 22, 2023Astoria-Megler Bridge, Oregon, USA
Jun 3, 2025Bicycles on a bridge in Utrecht, Netherlands
Feb 20, 2025Red deer, Canada
Nov 7, 2023Kirkilai lakes, Biržai Regional Park, Lithuania
Sep 26, 2024Blue-throated toucanet, Costa Rica
Nov 5, 2024Lençóis Maranhenses National Park, Brazil
Oct 16, 2025Eurasian lynx, Siberia
Oct 7, 2025Autumn colours below Mount Sneffels near Ridgway, Colorado, United States
Jul 30, 2024San Gimignano, Siena, Italy
Sep 19, 2025Thousand Islands region, St. Lawrence River, USA-Canada border
Nov 18, 2023Polar bear mother and cubs