Department of Information and Tourism, Taipei City Government

Taipei Zoo, surrounded by mountains, preserves the foothill forests that serve as crucial habitats for local wildlife. The zoo’s visitor trails are lined with trees that not only provide shade for guests, but also create green corridors for wildlife to move freely across the zoo grounds. These forests play an important role as a carbon sink, with fast-growing and densely-packed tree species exhibiting strong carbon sequestration abilities. Eucalyptus trees, favored by koalas, are an excellent example of such trees.

Within the zoo, there is a dedicated koala eucalyptus grove located on the southern side of the Temperate Zone Animal Area. This grove is home to thousands of eucalyptus trees, creating a verdant, year-round "koala-exclusive foodscape" for the zoo’s koalas. Koalas are highly selective and only eat eucalyptus leaves. This grove provides these conservation ambassadors with a rich and varied food source.

Native to Australia, eucalyptus trees are tall, upright hardwoods that thrive in poor soils and are a primary food source for koalas. Koalas prefer fresh young eucalyptus leaves, and while there are more than 800 species of eucalyptus, they typically only consume around 50 species. They tend to focus on a few varieties that are easily accessible in their local habitat, making them somewhat of a “gourmet” species with a specialized but varied diet.

Each day, zoo keepers carefully prepare fresh, diverse eucalyptus branches and leaves for the koalas, offering a menu that includes about a dozen types of eucalyptus leaves. These include main meals of blue gum eucalyptus, narrow-leaved eucalyptus, red gum eucalyptus, and fat eucalyptus; secondary meals of small-fruited blue gum, lemon-scented eucalyptus, rose gum, broad-leaved eucalyptus, gum tree, mountain blue gum, white eucalyptus, and spotted gum; and occasional “secret menu” items such as mallee eucalyptus, Sydney blue gum, rainbow eucalyptus, brown gum, and happy gum to stimulate the koalas' appetite.

The zoo has partnered with local farmers to ensure a steady supply of eucalyptus leaves, while also planting approximately ten species of eucalyptus throughout the zoo grounds. One such grove, located between the Asian small-clawed otter and red panda enclosures, serves as the koalas' "private garden."

Zoo keepers visit this eucalyptus grove daily to harvest leaves, adding variety to the koalas’ diet. This grove also becomes a backup resource when the external supply of eucalyptus leaves decreases or the quality of the leaves declines.

This spring, the zoo is once again cultivating new eucalyptus trees. The goal is to grow species frequently consumed by koalas, such as red gum, fat eucalyptus, rose gum, and spotted gum. Seeds are first sown in planting tubes, where the appropriate temperature and humidity conditions are provided. After several months, once the seedlings reach a sufficient height, they will be transplanted into designated locations. The trees will then be cared for over the next few years, with regular monitoring of their growth, watering, fertilizing, grass cutting, and protection from pests like golden caterpillars that love to eat eucalyptus leaves. With the dedicated care of the zoo staff, these trees will grow into a thriving “supermarket” for the koalas.

Next time you visit the zoo, take a moment to notice the large eucalyptus grove along the visitor trails in the Temperate Zone Animal Area. If you’d like to learn more about koala behavior and ecology, join the Keeper’s Talk every Wednesday from 11:00 to 11:25 AM at the zoo's Koala Exhibit, where the keepers will share fascinating insights about these iconic marsupials. All are welcome to attend!