Koala Facts

When I look at this thick furred fluffy animal, all I can think of is to hold the animal in my hands. The cute little koalas make me smile to no end. However, it is just recently that I found out that these are not bears. Shocked though I was, I looked up for some other koala facts and today I will present these facts to you. Some of these are fun facts and some are just, well, koala bear facts. Let me list them down for you.

Interesting Koala Facts

Let us find out the various facts about the koala which are quite interesting.

• Koalas are not bears, they belong to the marsupial family. Marsupials are those who carry their young ones in pouches like the kangaroos.
• Scientifically, the koala is known as Phascolarctos Cinereus and is one of the various Australian animals.
• The fur of a koala is soft and like wool.
• Koala is gray in color with white patches on stomach, chest and chins.
• Koala are native to Australia with the largest population in the eastern and southern Australia and are not found in western Australia.
• Koalas are nocturnal animals. Nocturnal animals mean they sleep during the day and are awake in the nights. However, in the case of koalas, they sleep for some time in the night and they move around during the day too. They sleep for almost 18 hours during the day.
• Another koala fact, is that they eat food that is not only toxic but is also low in nutrition and very fibrous. Experts believe that eating such food is the reason why koalas sleep a lot.
• One of the Australian koala facts is that those koalas who live in south Australia have thicker fur and are larger than those living in the northern part of Australia.
• Koalas living in the northern part of Australia are brown in color and are shorter than the ones staying in south Australia.
• Koalas love the eucalyptus tress where they stay throughout their life.
• Koalas sleep in the fork of the eucalyptus tree.
• Koalas have two opposable thumbs and three fingers. The opposable thumbs assist the koalas in climbing the trees easily and catching their foods in their paws.
• Do you know what do koala bears eat? Koalas love the eucalyptus trees and they eat the leaves and bark of this tree. The eucalyptus leaves are poisonous for other animals.
• The koalas have a fiber digesting organ in their body. This organ is called a caecum and is 200 centimeters in length. It contains bacteria which help the koala digest the eucalyptus leaves.
• A full-grown koala eats about one kilogram of leaves in a night.
• They do not drink water unless they are ill. If they find the leaves of the tree to be dry, only then they make an exception and drink some water.
• Koalas were hunted for their fun till the 1920s after which the Government was forced to protect them. Unfortunately many koalas were killed by then, and the animal would have become extinct. Fortunately, they are breeding now and are protected from being hunted. However, their habitat is still being destroyed making koalas endangered species.
• People are trying to make a law which will entitle them to keep koala bears as pets.

Koala Fun Facts

Here are some fun facts of the koala bears for you.

• Koalas have a very large nose which has developed a high sense of smell in this animal.
• Koalas when born, are two centimeters long.
• The maximum height of a koala is 34 inches and the maximum weight of a male koala is about 14 kilograms. The female koala weighs around 1 kilograms only.
• Koalas live for about 15 years.
• The males have a scent gland on its chest. This gland gives out a dark sticky substance which the males rub on the trees, thus marking the tree as theirs.
• Whenever koalas communicate with each other, they use many kinds of noises. They roar and sometimes their noises sound as snores!!
• There is a lot of similarity between the fingerprints of a koala and of human beings.

Baby Koala Facts

Now for some koala facts for kids.

• The baby koala is called joey.
• Only one joey a year is born to one mother koala.
• The joey is about 2 centimeters long, when it is born and is blind. It also does not have any fur on it.
• The baby drinks only milk from its mother till it becomes 7 months old.
• Till the baby becomes 7 months old, it stays in the mother's pouch.
• When the baby grows and stops drinking milk, it cannot eat the eucalyptus leaves as these leaves are difficult to digest. In order to be able to digest these leaves, they need the bacteria in their caecum. They get this bacteria from their mother's droppings. This makes the baby get the necessary bacteria needed to process its food.
• After coming out of the mother's pouch, the baby rids on the mother's back for some weeks.
• When the koalas become 4 years old, they are considered as being grown up.

I hope you find these koala facts interesting and informative. Unfortunately, these animals are killed by dogs or they die in accidents as they are losing their koala bear habitat. It is necessary to make stricter laws and protect these lovely furry animals from becoming extinct.