Hugging trees help Koalas lose heat

A new research has revealed that Koalas hugs trees to normalize their body temperature.

They move to the lower parts of the trees in summers as they are cooler than upper parts, the study found.

Scientists used thermal cameras to observe how koalas regulated their temperature and the images suggested that hugging trees allows koalas to avoid water loss enabling them to dump heat into the tree and to avoid panting, BBC News reported.

Dr Michael Kearney from the University of Melbourne said that they'd just flop over the lower tree trunks and it looked like they were spread-eagled and uncomfortable which made them wonder if the koalas were using the trees as a heat sink.

He further explained that large trees had their own protective "microclimate", which is likely to become increasingly important to tree-dwelling creatures like koalas if global temperatures continue to increase as predicted as it would help them survive during extreme heat events.

The study is published in the Royal Society journal Biology Letters.