Ingestion and Excretion of Eucalyptus Punctata D.c. And Its Essential Oil by the Koala, Phascolarctos Cinereus (Goldfuss).

Abstract

Ingestion and excretion by P. cinereus was followed in four captive animals feeding on an exclusive diet of E. punctata punctata. The apparent dry matter digestibility of the leaves was 60%. Distillation of the ingesta and excreta showed that only 7-30% of the volatile oil ingested was excreted in a steam-volatile form in the faeces and only 1% in the urine. Gas-liquid chromatograms and infrared spectra of these oils are discussed.