What’s a Koala Bear?
The koala is actually not a bear and it has no relationship to a bear. It is a marsupial, meaning that females give birth to extremely underdeveloped young, which must complete their development in a pouch. In 1816, early european settlers called the koala “ash gray pouched bear”, or scientifically, "phascolarctos cinereus". It was these same settlers, who hunted koalas to the brink of extinction. Fortunately, in 1927 public outcry brought the end to this slaughter. Harvesting ceased and the koala population recovered slightly. The koala's fur is soft and pleasant to the touch. Ears have long white hairs on the tips. The koala is well suited to its arboreal (living in trees) lifestyle. It has very strong arms and legs; rough pads on its hands and feet; sharp claws and the first two digits of the hand are opposed to the other three, forming a powerful clamp.
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How big is a Koala?
They range from 27 to 36 inches long and weigh 9 to 20 lbs. Males are larger than females and southern koalas, which have short gray fur, are 30% larger than Northern Koalas, which have long brown fur.
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Where do they live?
Koalas live in the eucalyptus forests of Eastern and Southern Australia. They live in a range of habitats, from coastal islands and tall eucalyptus forests to low woodlands inland. They do not live in rain forests. Socially stable koala populations occurs only when there are primary food tree species present. They live in societies, so they need contact with other koalas and therefore large areas of suitable eucalyptus forest are required to support a healthy koala population.
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What do they eat?
The koala will only eat eucalyptus leaves, and only certain varieties. Eucalyptus foliage is very fibrous and low in nutrition and to most animals is extremely poisonous. Koala’s digestive system is specially adapted to detoxify the poisonous chemicals in the leaves. They have a slow metabolic rate due to the high fiber, low nutrient diet. Because they store little or no fat, they must adapt strategies that conserve energy. Sleeping is one of them. they sleep from 16 to 19 hours a day. They seldom drink as the leaves are about 50% water.
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What about babies?
Koala babies are called “joeys”. When it is born the joey is very tiny, at just under an inch long. It weighs almost nothing, has no hair, and looks like a pink jelly bean. The joey remains in the pouch for the first 6 or 7 months of its life, feeding on its mother’s milk. At around 6 months the joey begins to peep out of the pouch, and feed on pap which the mother produces. The pap is full of bacteria that the joey will soon need to digest its diet of eucalyptus leaves. At 9 months it weighs just over 2 pounds and is finally too big to fit inside the pouch. It rides on its mother’s back and still feeds on its mother’s milk until about a year old. Because it is too large for the pouch, it puts its head inside the pouch to suckle. The joey remains with its mother until the next season’s joey comes out of the pouch. At this point it is time for the older joey to finally leave and fend for itself.
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How long do they live?
Koalas usually live for 8 to 10 years in the wild and 12 to 14 years in captivity. Presently, up to 4,000 koalas are being killed by dogs and cars each year. Females generally live longer. Koalas living in an undisturbed habitat would have a greater life expectancy those living in suburbia. Fossil remains of koala like animals have been found dating back to 25 - 40 million years. There are an estimated 100 to 200 thousand koalas left in the world, down from a population in the millions just a few decades ago.
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