Have you ever climbed a tree? People aren’t really built for climbing trees, so it takes a lot of effort and just the right sort of tree to get up it. You have to be careful and use plenty of concentration to balance so you don’t fall out. Did you know that there are all kinds of animals that are built just right to climb and even live in trees? Come with me to discover animals that make their homes in trees!
Koala
Koalas are so cute and cuddly they are often mistaken for bears, but they are part of a different family of animals called marsupials. Marsupials all have poaches on their tummies where babies can live and grow. Kangaroos and wombats are other kinds of marsupials.
Koalas spend most of their time in eucalyptus trees and they have the perfect kind of body for living in trees. They have sharp claws and thick pads on their feet for gripping trees. They also have fingers that are shaped just right for grabbing tree branches. They have a thick pad at the bottom of their spine that lets them sit comfortably on tree branches for a long time.
Koalas only eat eucalyptus leaves. Eucalyptus leaves are poisonous to other animals, but koalas have a special bacteria in their stomach that allows them to eat it. That means there is no competition for their food source. Competition means other animals that eat the same things making it harder for the koala to find what it needs.
Eucalyptus leaves don’t give koalas much energy so they sleep about 20 hours a day! What long naps they must take! The only place you can see a koala in the wild is in Australia.
Sloth
Sloths live in the trees in the forest in Central and South America. They move incredibly slowly. Scientists think that sloths move slowly so that predators won’t notice them. They spend almost all of their time in trees and like koalas sleep 20 hours a day! Sloths only come down from trees once a week to go potty.
There are two kinds of sloths, two-toed and three-toed sloths. Two toed sloths like to hang upside down in trees and three toed sloths have extra bones in their necks so they can turn their heads almost all the way around. How far can you turn your head? Can you see behind you? A three-toed sloth can!
Monkeys
Monkeys might be the first animal you think of when you think of animals that live in trees. Did you know that there are 260 different kinds of monkeys and not all of them live in trees? Many monkeys are adapted to live in trees and love to swing from branch to branch. Spider monkeys are one kind of monkey that spends most of its time in trees. Spider monkeys can even walk on two feet across the tops of trees! Monkeys live in trees to find food such as insects, leaves, eggs, fruit and seeds and to avoid predators that live on the ground. Click here for a fun song about monkeys!
Lemurs 
Lemurs are another type of primate that lives in trees. Primates are a large family of animals that includes monkeys and apes. There are many different types of lemurs and they are endemic to the island of Madagascar. Endemic means Madagascar is the only place lemurs live in the wild.
Unlike monkeys lemurs don’t swing from trees with their tails. Instead they use their hands and feet to get around. Most lemurs are nocturnal, which means they are awake and active during the night. That is why when you see a lemur at a zoo it is usually sleeping. Lemurs spend almost all of their time in trees and like to live in big groups. Lemurs can make a scent that helps other lemurs recognized what family they are from. What if instead of a last name you just had a special smell?
Kinkajou
Kinkajous are relatives of raccoons that live in Central and South America. Kinkajous are also nocturnal and they have big eyes that help them see in the dark. They have a special ability to turn their ankle in their back feet backward, so they can move backwards just as easily as they can move forwards. This helps them get around in the trees. They also have a tail they can use like another hand. It can hold tree branches and help them have balance when they are high in the trees. Kinkajous love to eat fruit, but they will also eat insects and small animals. They can even sip nectar from flowers!
There are so many animals that live in trees and they are all special so that life up in the trees is easy. The next time you climb a tree think about how easy it would be if you had a tail you could use like a hand or really sharp claws!
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