History Main / LaidBackKoala

TruthInTelevision. Koalas are fairly lazy in RealLife. Koalas eat mainly eucalyptus leaves, which are both hard to digest and have very little nutrition, meaning the energy "profit" they derive from them is rather low. Thinking is a very energy-intensive biological process, and as a result koalas have evolved one of the smallest brain-to-body mass ratios of all mammals. Experts theorize that a low nutrition, low effort diet (leaves don't tend to run away) combined with a lack of predators has resulted in koalas being, to put it simply, really dumb. (If you give a koala eucalyptus leaves separated from a branch, it will not recognize them as food.) On top of this, koalas spend the overwhelming majority of their time sleeping (around 18 to 22 hours a day) to conserve even more energy. Basically koalas' biology is just enough to keep them physically alive and that's it.

SubTrope of AnimalStereotypes. Compare CatsAreLazy, SluggishSeal, DogsAreDumb, and BuffoonishTomcat for similarly lazy/ditzy creatures. See also [[YowiesAndBunyipsAndDropBearsOhMy Drop Bears]] for much larger, ravenous koalas that drop out of trees. Also see HighKoalatyCuteness for another koala stereotype and BoxingKangaroo, KangaroosRepresentAustralia, PuzzlingPlatypus, and VolatileTasmanianDevil for other stereotypes applying to Australian wildlife.

* ''VideoGame/{{Palworld}}'': Depresso is a koala Pal that plays with this. It's ''very'' apathetic when assigned to mine at a base, doing a bare minimum of effort by tapping the rock with a pickaxe, and its idea of relaxing in a pool bath is lying face down and floating. However, like its name suggests, this is due to their perpetual depressed mood rather than being laid-back.

* ''Manga/GirlsUndPanzer''. The commander of the Australian tankery team is a koala. Of course it doesn't actually command the tank; it just squats on a small tree in the turret while Vice-commander Wallaby pretends to translate its orders.

TruthInTelevision. Koalas are fairly lazy in RealLife. Koalas eat mainly eucalyptus leaves, which are both hard to digest and have very little nutrition, meaning the energy "profit" they derive from them is rather low. Thinking is a very energy-intensive biological process, and as a result koalas have evolved one of the smallest brain-to-body mass ratios of all mammals. Experts theorize that a low nutrition, low effort diet (leaves don't tend to run away) combined with a lack of predators has resulted in koalas being, to put it simply, really dumb. On top of this, koalas spend the overwhelming majority of their time sleeping (around 18 to 22 hours a day) to conserve even more energy. Basically koalas' biology is just enough to keep them physically alive and that's it.

* Mostly subverted with Colin the koala in the ''Literature/{{Spellsinger}}'' novel ''The Path of the Perambulator'', who's smart and pretty intense. The idea that koalas are stoned is referenced, with Colin winding up getting high for a while after being stuck in a LotusEatingMachine that made him think he was in a eucalyptus forest, and apparently the magic was enough to make him intoxicated in the real world. (With FunnyAnimal koalas who are at least bright enough to talk, it might even be true.)

* Mostly subverted with Colin the koala in the ''Literature/{{Spellsinger}}'' novel ''The Path of the Perambulator'', who's smart and pretty intense. The idea that koalas are stoned is referenced, with Colin explaining that his dried rations don't have the same effect. (With FunnyAnimal koalas who are at least bright enough to talk, it might even be true.)

TruthInTelevision. Koalas are fairly lazy in RealLife. Koalas eat mainly eucalyptus leaves, which are both hard to digest and have very little nutrition, meaning the energy "profit" they derive from them is rather low. Thinking is a very energy-intensive biological process, and as a result koalas have evolved one of the smallest brain-to-body mass ratios of all mammals. Experts theorize that a lack of predators combined with a low nutrition, low effort diet (leaves don't tend to run away) has resulted in koalas being, to put it simply, really dumb. On top of this, koalas spend the overwhelming majority of their time sleeping (around 18 to 22 hours a day) to conserve even more energy. Basically koalas' biology is just enough to keep them physically alive and that's it.

TruthInTelevision. Koalas are fairly lazy in RealLife. Koalas eat mainly eucalyptus leaves, which are both hard to digest and have very little nutrition, meaning the energy "profit" they derive from them is rather low. Thinking is a very energy-intensive biological process, and as a result koalas evolved a small brain-to-body ratio; while not the dumbest animals, they're not the greatest thinkers either. Even after all this, koalas spend the overwhelming majority of their time sleeping (around 18 to 22 hours a day) to conserve even more energy. Basically koalas' biology is just enough to keep them physically alive and that's it.

* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'': Komala is the koala pokemon and is notable for spending its entire life asleep, and merely sleepwalking to move around. Nobody in recorded history has ever seen an awake Komala. It even translates to gameplay, as Komala has the unique "Comatose" ability which treats it like it has a permanent Sleep condition, which prevents other, harmful status effects without the downsides of actually being asleep.

TruthInTelevision. Koalas are fairly lazy in RealLife. Koalas eat mainly eucalyptus leaves, which are both hard to digest and have very little nutrition, meaning the energy "profit" they derive from them is rather low. Thinking is a very energy-intensive biological process, and as a result koalas evolved a small brain-to-body ratio, and while not the dumbest animals, they're not the greatest thinkers. Even after all this, koalas spend the overwhelming majority of their time sleeping (around 18 to 22 hours a day) to conserve even more energy. Basically koalas' biology is just enough to keep them physically alive and that's it.

TruthInTelevision. Koalas are fairly lazy in RealLife. Koalas eat mainly eucalyptus leaves, which are both hard to digest and have very little nutrition, meaning the energy "profit" they derive from them is rather low. Thinking is a very energy-intensive biological process, meaning koalas have one of the smallest brain-to-body ratios of any mammal. In addition, their brains are smooth, and not folded like most mammals (folds increase brain surface area, which means more space for thinking). The result is koalas are, to put it simply, really dumb. It's even claimed that a koala can't recognize eucalyptus leaves as food if they're offered to it on a plate instead of on a branch. Even after all this, koalas spend the overwhelming majority of their time sleeping (around 18 to 22 hours a day) to conserve even more energy. Basically koalas' biology is just enough to keep them physically alive and that's it.