Seedling Squad Plants Trees of Life for Koalas

Plant a tree, feed a koala.

That was the spirit Saturday as 50 volunteers gathered at a city-owned garden in the San Fernando Valley to plant eucalyptus seedlings to produce trees whose pungent leaves are the only source of food for 10 koalas at the Los Angeles Zoo.

The morning planting, co-sponsored by the conservation group TreePeople and the Los Angeles Zoo, is expected in two years to provide a steady harvest of eucalyptus leaves for the marsupials. Adult koalas can munch up to three pounds of fresh eucalyptus leaves a day, zoo officials said.

The event was held at the 12-acre Sepulveda Garden Center in Encino, under a sky that threatened rain but never delivered. Along with seasoned TreePeople volunteers, it attracted a Boy Scout troop from Long Beach, a Cub Scout den from Verdugo Hills and assorted, unaffiliated tree lovers who didn’t mind getting a bit grubby.

Two Varieties Planted

Two of more than 100 varieties of eucalyptus trees were planted, said TreePeople founder Andy Lipkis, who supervised the digging. He said an earlier planting has yielded 15-foot trees that are just beginning to provide food for the koalas.

Wielding shovels, wearing jeans and working in pairs, the volunteers planted 115 two-foot seedlings in 40 minutes. Private donations paid for the seedlings, Lipkis said.

Zoo officials said the Encino tree farm gives them a central and reliable source of eucalyptus leaves. In the past, zoo keepers had to scour the hills of Griffith Park to find eucalyptus trees whose foliage might whet the appetite of their koalas.

The trouble with koalas, it seems, is that they are finicky eaters, snacking on one variety of eucalyptus leaves for several weeks, then disdainfully turning up their noses until a more succulent variety is placed before them, koala-keeper Don Richardson said.

Arrived in 1980

“We don’t know what type of leaves they’ll want at a particular time,” he explained.

Richardson has cared for the zoo’s koalas since six animals arrived from Australia in 1980. He said the animals appear to have adapted well, since the zoo now has seven grown koalas and three joeys--baby koalas who live in their mothers’ pouches for several months after birth.

While volunteers planted seedlings, Richardson pruned branches from the adjacent grove planted two years ago during another joint TreePeople/Los Angeles Zoo project.

When they reach this age, the trees can be harvested for their leaves, Richardson said as he filled a flatbed truck with branches from a dozen varieties of eucalyptus.

“The koalas eat the leaves, buds and bark, but their favorite is the succulent new growth,” he said.