The koala is an arboreal plant-eating marsupial native to Australia, recognised worldwide as a symbol of the country. Its closest living relatives are the wombats. It has a stout, tailless body and large head with round, fluffy ears and a large, dark nose. The koala has a body length of 60 to 85 cm (24 to 33 in) and weighs 4 to 15 kg (9 to 33 lb). Fur colour ranges from silver grey to chocolate brown. Koalas typically inhabit open Eucalyptus woodlands, and the leaves of these trees make up most of their diet. Because this eucalypt diet has low nutritional and caloric content, koalas are largely sedentary and sleep for up to 20 hours a day. They are asocial animals, and bonding only exists between mothers and dependent offspring. They have few natural predators or parasites but are threatened by various pathogens, as well as by bushfires and droughts. The biggest threat to their existence is habitat destruction due to agriculture and urbanisation.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koala

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1808:

As a result of the lobbying efforts by the abolitionist movement (emblem pictured), the importation of slaves into the United States was officially banned, although slavery itself was not yet abolished. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Act_Prohibiting_Importation_of_Slaves

1914:

The St. Petersburg–Tampa Airboat Line in the U.S. state of Florida became the first scheduled airline using a winged aircraft. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Petersburg%E2%80%93Tampa_Airboat_Line

1957:

The revised Thai criminal code came into force, strengthening the law on lèse-majesté in Thailand to include insult and treating it as a crime against national security. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%A8se-majest%C3%A9_in_Thailand

2019:

The NASA space probe New Horizons flew by the trans-Neptunian object Arrokoth, making it the farthest object visited by a spacecraft. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/486958_Arrokoth

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

bright and early: (idiomatic, originally US) (Very) early in the morning. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bright_and_early

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

It is madness for any country to build its policy with an eye to nuclear war.   --Leonid Brezhnev https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Leonid_Brezhnev