Koalas

Koala Bears are not actually bears, they are marsupials: a type of mammal with a pouch, like kangaroos.

Joeys are born after just 35 days and stay in their mother’s pouch for 7 months to grow and develop.

The word Koala comes from an aboriginal word ‘gula’ which means no water. This is because koalas do not come down from trees to get water very often as the eucalyptus they eat has such a high water content.

Eucalyptus makes up most of a koala’s diet, but they will eat other types of leaves. Did you know that there are over 600 different types of eucalyptus? Koala’s like 30 of the best ones that give them the most protein.

Koalas are not very social animals and will spend just 15 minutes a day on social activities. They tend to stay on their own (apart from the joeys) and stick to one area. One male will be in charge of the area that many koalas live in, even if they don’t see each other much.

Koalas can live up to 18 years in the wild, though the males may not live as long due to fighting and moving to new territories more.

Unfortunately, Australia had some big bushfires recently which has killed many koalas and destroyed large areas of their habitat.

Koalas do not really have many predators, so bushfires and habitat destruction are their biggest threat.

They are classified as vulnerable on the endangered animal list.