Landy Lisenby, age 9, of Chesterfield, SC., for his question:

What does a koala bear eat?

The cuddly koala is one of the world's most popular animals. At any rate, andy's readers ask endless questions about him. Unless we travel all the way to Australia we are not likely to see a real live koala, even in a zoo. He is very choosy about where he lives and is even more choosy about his diet.

The koala is a vegetarian, which means that he eats no meat. His only food is leaves of the eucalyptus gum tree, and he eats only certain tender leaves. He often lives his life in the same grove of trees where he was born. He may refuse to eat the leave$ of another gum tree, everi trees exactly like the ones that grow in his favorite grove.