All about Koalas

• Once koalas lived every where, but now the only place in the wild you can find them is Australia

• There are 3 species of koalas: Victor, Cinereus and Adustun. The victor spices is from Victoria, the Cinereus is from New Southern wales and the Adustus is from Queensland

• All koalas live in eucalyptus trees, however no koala do not have permanent homes

• They do not like: thick bushes or grass• 1 male shares his home of 15 trees with 6 females

Habitat

• Koalas grow to be up to be 2 feet tall• Koalas are fully grown at 4 years old• An adult koala is about the size of a bull dog• Koalas do not have tails• Koalas have small eyes compared to other

nocturnal animals• Koalas have about 30 teeth• mother koalas have pouches like a kangaroo

except they are upside down

body

Body: covering

• Koalas have a wooly water coat to help keep warm in winter and dry in rain

• Their fur blends in with the tree barks• The fur changes according to the weather• Koalas have white fur under their chin and four

arm • Their rump is padded fur so they can get a soft

cushioning for the hard branches it sits on

Body: arms and legs

• Koalas have powerful arms and legs• The front paw of a koala has 2 thumbs and 3 fingers• The back paw of a koala has 5 toes• Except for the first all the toes on the back have claws• Koalas use claws to climb• 1st toe works like a thumb 2nd and 3rd toe are joined together

4th and 5th are used for climbing• Koalas connect their toes for scratching• They have pads on their front toe to prevent them from

getting hurt if they fall of a tree

• eat eucalyptus (yoo-cal-iptus) trees, nibbles stems, and barks from trees

• They eat only the older leaves, younger leaves are poison to them

• Normally do not eat same thing every meal• Hardly drink that is why they are called koalas that

means no drink• Mothers give pap to the babies(chewed food that has

been saved) and believe it or not the babies like it• They climb high to get plenty of more eucalyptus trees

Koalas cuisine

About koala babies• Mothers give birth to their babies only once every other year• Twins are extremely rare• Babies are called Joes• Joes are born blind and deaf• They are pink and furless • Babies live in a pouch in their mommy's tummy• Mommy cleans her pouch before her baby is born• Just like humans Joes kick their moms • At 6 months they get fur• They stay in there mothers pouch for 6-8 months• After a while the mother says no to staying in the mothers pouch• Usually a Joey is too scared to get out of the mother’s pouch• After coming out the joey rides on their mothers back• By 12 months they start eating eucalyptus leaves • At 18 months the young koala lives alone

What they are/ what they are not

• Koalas are mammals• They are nocturnal• They are marsupial (mar-soo-pi-als) a type of

animal that has a pouch• Koalas are more related to kangaroos than

bears

What can they do?

• Koalas are excellent sniffers• Koalas never lose their amazing sense of

smell• They are strong swimmers• They avoid each other• They are fast climbers

Snoozing time

• Koalas sleep 18-22 hours a day• They sleep in any position that is comfortable

for them• Koalas like sleeping as much as eating• They may fall asleep if the tree while chewing

if the tree is comfortable

Survival

• Koalas climb 150 ft. high to be safe• Eucalyptus trees provide them with protection

from rain and shade them from sun

Protecting koalas

• Some scientist estimate there to be 40,000-80,000 koalas left in the wild

• People used to kill koalas for their fur• Since1927 there was a law to protect koalas• Fortunately there are people who help protect

koalas• Their predators are: Eagles (because they

snatch their babies and dingos (a type of dog) that kill koalas

Bibliography

• Koala magic for kids by Kathy Feeney 1956• Natures Children koalasBy Elizabeth MacLeod 1989Made in the U.S.A