via John Nicholeson C. Severa, Pressroom PH
Humans, when broken, tend to do different things such as talking to a friend, going to different places, or eating numerous foods. However, in the heart of this story, a male koala handles rejection in a different way we humans do.
How does it handle this rejection? It handles it in an interesting way — sleeping.
According to researchers, male koalas do not chase female koalas when they notice that they are uninterested. Instead, they run away silently to a place and do what they always do for almost a day — sleeping in trees. This is called the “shutdown response.”
A koala’s diet revolves on eucalyptus leaves, a food that is low in nutritional value. Because of this, their metabolism is low, making every energy spent calculated, even looking for a mate has a cost.
Male koalas who look for mates produce a loud sound that can be heard for miles which require a lot of energy to be depleted. So when a female shows no interest, they just sleep because burning extra calories is not worth it anymore.
Additionally, in a forest in which the fittest survive, koalas are not the fastest nor the strongest. So, every energy counts because for them, survival is using as little energy as possible while maximizing their survival and reproduction opportunities.
Love and coping mechanisms are both wonderful. While we humans cope with different ways, the love-struck koalas cope in a way they can complete their cycle while moving on. Love makes every living thing happier, livelier, and closer to each other but in the face of koalas, sleeping gives them more than what love can.
