Did you know the koala feeds on eucalyptus leaves, which happen to be poisonous?
Koalas make their homes in these toxic trees, solely eating the poisonous leaves for nourishment and water. When koalas are placed into zoos, large quantities of poisonous leaves must be imported to sustain their appetite. The koalas eat so many eucalyptus leaves that they take on the smell of a eucalyptus-flavored cough drop.
How does the koala survive while eating poison all day long?
Koalas, like many other mammals, cannot digest the cellulose in the leaves; therefore, they depend on micro-organisms within their intestines to digest them. The place where the small and large intestine converge is the caecum and it functions as a fermentation chamber where microbes digest cellulose. The koala bear has a uniquely designed caecum containing bacteria that neutralize the poison found in eucalyptus leaves.
Why would these poison-neutralizing microbes exist in the koalas if they were not eating these poisonous leaves?
Even if the koala had these microbes, which koala would volunteer first to eat these leaves when other creatures died every time they ingested the leaves? This caecum, with the neutralizing microbes, and the koala bear’s instinct to eat poisonous leaves had to have been created at the same time. God’s wonderful design is evident in these cough drop bears.
(Source: Inspired Evidence – Harun Yahva Alas of Creation vol. 1, 2006 pp. 732 ) “Learn to defend your faith at educateforlife.org”
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