Koalas

What are Koala’s The koala is a small bear-like, tree-dwelling, herbivorous marsupial which averages about 9kg in weight. Its fur is thick and usually ash grey colour with a tinge of brown in places. The koala gets its name from an ancient Aboriginal word meaning "no drink" because it receives over 90% of its hydration from the Eucalyptus leaves (also known as gum leaves) it eats, and only drinks when ill or times when there is not enough moisture in the leaves. The koala is the only mammal, other than the Greater Glider and Ringtail Possum, which can survive on a diet of eucalyptus leaves.

Physical Features Unlike other mammals/marsupials, a Koala has two left thumbs on each hand. This enables the Koala to climb trees in wet or dry conditions. They have strong limbs and large hands to help with climbing trees. Surprisingly they have a short stumpy tail which is of no assistance to them in climbing at all.

Appearance Like other marsupials, the female koala has a pouch with a strong, contracting, ring-shaped muscle around the backwards-facing opening, which prevents the young from falling out. Pouch

Kingdom Class: Mammalia Subclass: Marsupial Order: Diprotodontia Family: Phascolarctidae Genus: Phascolarctos Species: Cinereus

Koala’s Diet Koalas are herbivores (leaf eaters) and subsist primarily on eucalyptus leaves, though they will occasionally eat non-eucalypt plant species. They eat approximately a pound of leaves daily and rarely drink, obtaining water from its leafy diet. Though there are well over 600 species of eucalypt, koalas will often eat from only a handful of eucalypt species, often specific to the region. Eucalyptus leaves are highly toxic to most mammals, but koalas have digestive systems specially adapted to detoxify the poisonous chemicals in the leaves (all thanks to eating its mums poop when they were younger).

Behaviour Koalas aren’t very active. They spend most of the day sleeping in the trees. When a sleepy koala moves, it often looks as if it is in slow motion. Koalas don’t have a lot of energy, because of their food. Eucalyptus leaves don’t provide much energy, so koalas move slowly most of the time. Koalas are mainly nocturnal animals, which means they are more active at night. The air is cooler at this time, so koalas lose less valuable moisture than they would during hot daylight hours. Moving around is also less tiring when it is cooler.

Koala’s Habitat 'Habitat' refers to the types of bushland that koalas like to live in. They are found in a range of habitats, from coastal islands and tall eucalypt forests to low woodlands inland. Koalas today are found in Queensland , New South Wales , Victoria and South Australia . Their range extends from the Atherton Tableland west of Cairns in Qld to islands off the coast of Victoria and South Australia in the south, and west to central and western Qld, NSW and Victoria.

Done By Nataly Fellew 7A 