ABC

Koalas are often called bears because they look a little like teddy bears, but they are actually marsupials. Like other marsupials, the female has a pouch where she carries her baby, called a joey, for several months after birth. When a joey is strong enough to cling to its mother's back, it leaves the pouch but still sticks its head in to nurse.

 

Koalas are known as picky eaters. There are hundreds of different types of eucalyptus, but koalas only eat a few dozen kinds. And koalas won’t eat every leaf off of each branch. In fact, at the San Diego Zoo, we offer each koala 25 pounds of fresh eucalyptus each day, and each only eats about 1.5 pounds of it. We give them a lot to choose from because they know what's best!

 

While koalas currently aren’t listed as an endangered species, 80 percent of koala habitathas been lost to human homes and businesses, drought, and fires. That makes life hard for an animal that needs eucalyptus forests to survive, like koalas do. Koalas also are at risk when close to human populations and being killed by cars or dogs. Many people are working together to protect koala habitat and help these cuddly looking creatures survive.

 

 

• Koala fossils found in Australia have been dated as long ago as 20 million years.

• Koalas eat eucalypt leaves and almost nothing else.

• The brain size of modern koalas has reduced substantially from their ancestors, possibly as an adaptation to the low energy they get from their diets.

• The closest living relative of the koala is the wombat.

• Koalas have sharp claws which help them climb trees.

• Koalas have similar fingerprints to humans.

• Koalas have large noses that are coloured pink or black.

• Outside of breeding seasons, koalas are quiet animals.

• A baby koala is called a ‘joey’.

• Joeys live in their mother’s pouch for around six months and remain with them for another six months or so afterwards.

• Koalas cannot be kept legally as pets.