News in Brief Animals

Why tree-hugger koalas are cool

That adorable sprawl on a tree could save an animal during a heat wave

koala

KOALA AIR CONDITIONING  Thermal imaging (right, cooler temperatures in purple) reveals that a tree is cool enough to help a lolling koala get through a heat wave. 

© Steve Griffiths

By Susan Milius

- More than 2 years ago

Sprawling against the trunk of a tree could provide more than half the cooling a koala needs to survive a typical hot summer day.