Animals have various miraculous features and each one of them is a miracle of creation. One of these animals is the koala. The koala feeding on eucalyptus leaves has various splendid features that ensure a comfortable life for it on trees. The bodily design of the koala, a native of Australia, has flawless details that it needs in the kind of environment it lives. For instance, its limbs and claws ensure an easy climb to eucalyptus tress with wide trunks. The two fingers in its forepaws are separate from its other three fingers. When compared with the human hand, it can be said that the koala has two thumbs. These thumbs, which are quite different from other fingers, allows the koala to grip more securely.

Four of the limbs of the koala, with its claws that can stick into the soft and smooth trunks of trees like a hook, grasp tree branches with ease as if we grasp a stick, and render a comfortable climb for the koala. However, the features, of the koala, are not limited to these. Here are some of them:

A Miniature Bio-chemical Plant

Eucalyptus leaves have a very high fiber and low protein content. These leaves are rich in strong odorous oil, phenolic combinations and materials similar to cyanide that are inedible and even poisonous for many mammals. These materials, which are poisonous for other animals, lose their poisonous effect when it comes to the koala’s body, for the koala is equipped with a digestive system having a very special anatomy and physiology.

Just as in the case of other herbivorous mammals, the koala cannot digest cellulose, the major component of eucalyptus. However, this task is accomplished by cellulose-digesting microorganisms in the cecum of the koala.

The koala’s cecum, which is quite long, opens to large intestine. Indeed, the cecum makes up 20% of the total intestine. Its length is 1.3m long. (Hume, I. D. (1999). Marsupial nutrition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press)

The cecum is the most interesting part of the koala’s digestive system. The access of the leaves to the digestive system is delayed right at this point. Thanks to this delay, the microorganisms in the cecum transform the cellulose into a structure from which the koala can benefit. With this structure, the koala’s cecum can be likened to a bio-chemical plant. While cellulose is being treated in this plant, oil and phenolic combinations, which are poisonous chemicals, are rendered ineffective in the liver.

As is known, the unique food of the koala is eucalyptus leaves. This means, the animal meets its carbohydrate requirements entirely by cellulose digested by microorganisms. In the absence of microorganisms, it is obvious that the koala cannot survive. The One Who creates these two creatures in perfect harmony is the All-Mighty Allah.

Allah is aware of all the needs of the living-beings. He creates them perfectly. Such examples prove Allah’s infinite power to us. In one of the verses in the Qur’an, Allah relates that those who can use their intellect can understand this fact:

He said, “The Lord of the East and the West and everything between them if you used your intellect.” (Surat ash-Shu‘ara’: 28)