The mention of a koala bear often conjures up an image of an adorable spoon-nosed creature cocking its head to one side while clinging to a tree. Now, scientists have figured out why the iconic ...

Hannah Weinberger was an editorial assistant at Outside. Despite earning a degree in Mandarin Chinese from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Hannah pursued an interest in environmental ...

Australia's koalas cope with extreme heat by resting against cooler tree trunks, new research has revealed. Thermal imaging uncovered the koalas' cool plan, confirming that they choose to hug trees ...

Earlier this month, a heartwarming photo of a young koala grasping its mother resurfaced from years prior and went viral among animal lovers. The photo shows a young joey koala seemingly hugging its ...

Looking for a way to beat the heat this summer? Then make like a koala, and hug a tree. According to a recent study in Biology Letters, the notoriously lethargic marsupials aren’t so lazy when it ...

Koalas spend a lot of their time asleep, clinging to tree branches. But far from being lazy, it seems tree-hugging is an efficient way to keep cool. The trick should ensure that koalas lose half as ...

Trees provide koalas with more than food and shelter – they also serve as air conditioners, scientists say. On a hot day in Australia, a koala’s thick fur is not necessarily an asset. The marsupials ...

To beat the heat, some animals crawl into underground burrows. Some take a dip in a stream or watering hole. Some sweat. Some pant. For koalas, who spend most of their lives high in the trees, the ...

A 2014 study has found that koala bears hug trees to keep cool. On hotter days, the trunks can be several degrees cooler than the ambient air temperature, and the koalas drape their whole bodies on ...

Yes, those fuzzy-eared, brown-eyed darlings of Australian wildlife are in the news, and, for all things, mass destruction and not being nice to the native trees. And guess what, folks, the story gets ...