The Cuddly Koala of Australia

Hi there, fellow tree lovers! I am Cobber the vegan koala from abundant Queensland, Australia. The name Cobber means “friend.” We koalas wish that all of you receive God’s bountiful blessings and love. We koalas are an Australian icon and are sometimes called cuddly koala bears, but we are actually a marsupial like the wallaby, kangaroo and wombat. Each koala has a territory with regular trees that they inhabit, an area called their “home range.” We sleep a lot! And even while we’re awake, we look sleepy sometimes. Well, there’s a very good reason for this - eucalyptus tree leaves, which make up the majority of our diet, have high concentrations of oils and are poisonous to most animals. Breaking down and digesting the leaves’ toxins and dense fibers uses a lot of energy, and we need plenty of rest to take care of this process, sleeping up to 18 hours or more a day. We are normally found resting in the fork of a comfy tree. During drought and extreme heat, though, we will take risky ventures to water sources as the leaves are depleted of moisture, which has been the case in 2019 with drier than normal conditions. We have quite a restricted range of habitat. Well, as you might have seen, it has been a rocky period for us Australian animals, especially us slow-moving koalas, with extreme bushfires devouring our homelands, and desperate scenes across eastern Australia. The Black Summer fires, or the Australian bushfires that started in the latter part of 2019 and lasted into the beginning of 2020, utterly devastated wildlife populations in the affected areas. Supreme Master Ching Hai has explained the deeper meaning of these wildfires that are occurring in Australia and globally and the unconditional love that animals and trees exhibit for humans. The best way you can help us koalas, and all wildlife, is by changing to a vegan lifestyle. What you eat is a powerful tool to save our planet’s resources, with plant-based foods being of the greatest benefit to you and your future generations. Not only will you be doing the planet a great favor, but you will also open yourself up to a world of exciting new foods. So join me in following a compassionate way of living and spreading the love.