The koala has a large round head, large round furry ears, a stout body. It has long arms with powerful claws. The first two fingers on its paws are both like thumbs, with strong nails that wrap around the branches to give it a firm grip. It has short legs and large feet.
The koala has a large round head, large round furry ears, a stout body. It has long arms with powerful claws. The koala is a very good tree-climber, though slow and clumsy on the ground.
It is covered in thick ash-grey fur, with white on their chests, inner arms, and ears. They have a stub tail and the fur on its bottom is densely packed to provide comfort when sitting on hard branches. This fur has a 'speckled' appearance which makes koalas hard to spot from the ground.
Their bodies are very rounded due to their very large intestines which are needed to digest eucalyptus leaves. Due to the low amount of energy that koalas obtain from their leafy diet they spend twenty hours of the day, or more, sleeping or resting in gum trees, the remainder of the time is spent feeding, moving around, grooming and social interaction. Koalas are mainly active during the night, at dawn and dusk. They use loud grunts and squeals to communicate.
On hot days they can be seen with their limbs dangling in an effort to keep cool, and during colder times, curled up in a ball to conserve body heat.
They grow to a length of 60-85 cm.
The male weighs up to 13.5 kg, the female up to 7.9kg.
The koala is more closely related to the wombat than to any other living marsupial, but the relationship is not close.
Koalas rub their chests against trees to mark their territory.
They are docile animals except when teased or frightened.
The life-span of a wild koala is approximately 10-12 years, with koalas in captivity reaching ages of 15 to 18 years.
Whilst the koala is an excellent swimmer, this is not a regular occurrence. They are able to cross rivers to escape from heavy flooding.
They occasionally jump from one tree to the next.
HABITAT AND DISTRIBUTION:
The koala is found in open eucalypt forests and lightly wooded regions from south-east Queensland to south-east South Australia. Because their food is restricted to the leaves of certain eucalypts, they live almost exclusively in the highest branches of these trees.
BREEDING:
Koalas normally breed only once every two years.
Females generally start breeding at about three or four years of age and usually produce only one offspring each year. However, due to age and quality of habitat not all females in the wild will breed each year. Some produce offspring only every two or three years.
The breeding season is during spring and summer (September to March). During this time the male koala calls loudly to attract a mate.
About 35 days after mating the baby, called a joey, is born. It is only 2cm long, blind, naked, and earless. Relying on its already well-developed senses of smell and touch, it makes its way, unaided, up through the fur from the external opening of the birth canal to the pouch. The mother has a backwards facing (or upside down) pouch.
Once inside the pouch, the young koala attaches itself to one of its mother's two nipples, which swells to fill its mouth. This prevents the joey from being dislodged from its source of food. The mother contracts her strong sphincter muscles at the pouch opening to prevent the baby from falling out.
