Koalefant

"Adorably delicious."

- Wilson

A Koalefant is a neutral Animal that roams across the world. Since their range is so wide Koalefants are never stumbled upon accidentally - instead they must be tracked by their footprints.

Koalefants will actively avoid the player until the player manages to attack it, at which point the animal becomes hostile and will chase the player for a distance. They take three blasts from the Ice Staff to be frozen and drop 8 Meat and a Koalefant Trunk when killed. They also occasionally drop Manure if they are left alive, which is similar to Beefalo as both of the Mobs use similar models in the game. The Koalefant Trunk is edible, but it is more useful for making a Breezy Vest or Puffy Vest, which delays Freezing in the Winter.

Hunting
Koalefant tracks can be found by investigating a Suspicious Dirt Pile. These can be found randomly in the world and change locations if ignored for a while. Once examined, the track will point in the direction the Koalefant has traveled. Each track points to another Suspicious Dirt Pile, eventually leading to the Koalefant itself. When examining the last one, the player's character will announce that the animal is close.

Players must examine every dirt pile to find the Koalefant. There will be at least 6 and 12 at most dirt piles in one hunt. About a minute after a track is examined, it will fade away. If a Suspicious Dirt Pile is ignored for long enough, it will eventually disappear, and the player will have to track the Koalefant from the beginning in a new location.

There is a chance that a trail will not lead to a Koalefant, and upon examining a Suspicious Dirt Pile the player's character will state that the trail does not lead to a Koalefant and the Suspicious Dirt Pile will not produce a track. Usually, the correct pile is nearby.

Once located, a Koalefant will run away until it is hit by a weapon. Using a Boomerang or Blow Dart is the most effective way to do this; however, the animal can also be cornered and struck with a melee weapon. After it has been angered, the Koalefant will fight back and is quite strong. A good strategy is to run from the animal until it swings and then turn and hit it multiple times (max of 6 without getting hurt in return) with a weapon. If done properly, this strategy will allow the Koalefant to be killed without the player taking any damage.

If found at night the Koalefant can be seen sleeping, though it will wake up and run away if approached. It is possible to land one hit on a sleeping Koalefant before it flees.

A Koalefant can also be chased into a pen built using Walls and kept as a pet. Only a single Koalefant can be spawned per summer, since there can only be one living Koalefant at a time.

Be careful with fire. If the beast is killed with fire, then it will produce 8 Cooked Meat. There will be no trunk if it is killed in this way.

Winter
In the winter, Koalefants will be replaced by Winter Koalefants, which have a seasonally appropriate color change. When killed, they drop Winter Koalefant Trunks, which are required to craft the Puffy Vest; a tier three winter garment (the warmest in the game).

Any Koalefant already located when winter begins will remain as a normal Koalefant during winter; only newly tracked Koalefants will be the winter version. Should Koalefant tracks be found before winter and followed during winter, a winter Koalefant will be found. The opposite is true for finding a red Koalefant.

Trivia

 * The name "Koalefant" is a portmanteau of "koala" and "elephant."
 * When the Koalefant is yawning, it reveals that it lacks a mouth. That means that it's trunk is it's way of eating and drinking.
 * Sometimes Suspicious Dirt Piles can spawn by things like spider nests or even in the players base, meaning the Koalefant traveled through the player's base while he/she was away.

Bugs

 * As of the 'Insanity' patch, (12th February), Koalefants can glitch through 1-wide holes in walls. Adding a 'lip' to the inside of the pen will keep it inside longer while providing an entrance, although it can still escape from time to time. (See picture below.)
 * There is an uncommon bug where the Suspicious Dirt Pile can spawn in the ocean, making it unreachable.
 * A Suspicious Dirt Pile can despawn when investigating one near the ocean.
 * Sometimes a koalefant will not be there at the end of the trail. The player will still say that they found the animal, though.