The leaves are commonly eaten by insects, and are a food item for the koala.
Kangaroos and koalas inhabit the more open eucalpyt woodlands, and kookaburras feed their chicks in the nest hole.
A well-known example of a specialist animal is the koala, which subsists almost entirely on eucalyptus leaves.
Camphor laurel invades rainforests and pastures, and also competes against eucalyptus trees, certain species of which are the sole food source of koalas.
While the hindgut is proportionally larger in the koala than in other herbivores, only 10% of the animal's energy is obtained from fermentation.
The koala has several adaptations for its eucalypt diet, which is of low nutritive value, of high toxicity and high in dietary fibre.
Because of the koala's resemblance to a bear, it was often miscalled the koala bear, particularly by early settlers.
For example, a koala bear (see below) looks and acts much like a bear, but in actuality, it is quite distinct and unrelated.
