🐾 Koala

Koala

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Who it is

• Scientific name: Phascolarctos cinereus
• Family & relatives: Family Phascolarctidae; its closest living relative is the wombat.
• How to spot it: Stout gray body, round fluffy ears, a large spoon-shaped nose, and no visible tail.

Its body & abilities

• Size: Body length about 60-85 cm.
• Weight: Roughly 4-15 kg, with southern koalas larger than northern ones.
• Body & adaptations: Two thumbs on each front paw and rough paw pads for gripping branches, plus a specialized gut for toxic leaves.
• Top speed: Can gallop on the ground up to about 30 km/h when needed.
• Strength: A strong climber that can scale tall smooth eucalyptus trunks with ease.
• Senses: Excellent sense of smell to pick safe leaves; good hearing but modest eyesight.
• Growing up: A tiny joey grows in the pouch, then rides on its mother's back before becoming independent.

Where it lives

• Habitat: Eucalyptus woodlands and forests.
• Where in the world: Eastern and southeastern Australia.
• Territory: Individuals keep home ranges of favorite feeding trees that may overlap with others.

What it eats

• Diet: Herbivore specialized on eucalyptus; gets most of its water from leaves.
• Favorite foods: Eucalyptus leaves, choosing among many species for the best ones.
• How it hunts: Forages in the treetops, sniffing and selecting the least toxic, most nutritious leaves.

How it behaves

• How it moves: Climbs and clings in trees and can walk or gallop awkwardly on the ground.
• When it is active: Mostly nocturnal and sleeps up to about 18-20 hours a day to save energy.
• Family life: Largely solitary, with overlapping ranges rather than tight groups.
• How it talks: Males give deep bellowing calls, and koalas use scent from a chest gland to mark trees.
• Babies: After about 35 days of pregnancy, usually a single joey is born and crawls into the pouch.

Its place in nature

• Role in nature: A eucalyptus specialist; young may be taken by dingoes, large owls, and pythons.
• Conservation: Vulnerable (IUCN), threatened by habitat loss, bushfires, disease, and vehicles.
• Dangers: Bushfires, chlamydia disease, habitat loss, and cars are leading causes of death.

Life & legacy

• How long it lives: Around 10-15 years in the wild and often longer in captivity.
• In our culture: A beloved symbol of Australia, though it is not actually a bear.
• Where to see it: Eucalyptus forests of eastern Australia and Australian wildlife sanctuaries.
• Fun fact: Each koala has a unique fingerprint so similar to a human's that even experts can be fooled.