Koala Facts
Koala bear is not a bear as many people led to believe. They are not even related to bear. Koala is a marsupial that can be defined as an animal that has a pouch. Their scientific name is Phascolarctos Cinereus that means a pouched bear with ash grey colour.
Quick Facts: –
- Koalas are native to Australia. Their fossils have been found in Australia about 20 million years ago.
- They are nocturnal. Koalas sleep more than 20 hours a day.
- An average koala can reach up to 80 cm in height and weight up to 12-14 kg.
- They only feed on leaves of Eucalyptus trees.
- They rarely drink water because they fulfil their requirement of moisture by eating Eucalyptus tree leaves.
- Koalas have unusually small brains and survive on a nutrient poor diet.
- Their average lifespan is about 20 years.
- They have a gestation period of about 35 days.
- An infant koala is called a ‘joey’. At the time of birth, they are blind, hairless and earless.
- Joeys live in their mother’s pouch for about first 6 months.
- An adult koala can eat up to 1 kg leaves in one day.
- There are 3 subspecies of Koala: – Northern, Southern and Intermediate.
- Out of 600 species of Eucalyptus trees they only find their food from 30 of them.
- It is illegal to keep a koala as a pet.
- In 1798, John Price was the first one to write something about Koalas.