Cute and cuddly! Koala bears eat and then sleep all day long! - BBC wildlife
The Koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) is an arboreal herbivorous marsupial native to Australia, and the only extant representative of the family Phascolarctidae.
The koala is found in coastal regions of eastern and southern Australia, from Adelaide to the southern part of Cape York Peninsula. Populations also extend for considerable distances inland in regions with enough moisture to support suitable woodlands. The koalas of South Australia were largely exterminated during the early part of the 20th century, but the state has since been repopulated with Victorian stock. The koala is not found in Tasmania, the Northern Territory or Western Australia. As of 2012 there have been increasing concerns about the animal's sustainable future in the environment.
Features[]
The male Koalas are larger than the females. Southern koalas are larger than Northern koalas. They have a grey soft furred coat, with a white chest, Flat nose and big ears, and clawed feet for climbing.
They are very placid animals, and do not move around much, they are only active for about 2 hours of the day.
The old Australian joke of "Koalas: Eats Roots & Leaves" is not quite correct. Koalas feed on eucalyptus leaves, which they have a variety of twelve different species to choose from. This is basically the only thing they do eat, although there are a few exceptions.
Did you know...?[]
Koalas make an extremely loud and agressive growling noise.
A friendly note[]
If you see a wild (and in some cases, tame) koala, do not be deceived by its looks and “cuddlelyness” because if you attempt to pick it up or even get too close to it, they can be very vicious. People are not being truthful when they say that they are not. NORMALLY, they would be up in the trees munching away or sleeping which is what they do most of the time. There were two blokes that had gone fishing for a while and when they came back they saw a Koala at the base of a tree, right next to their tent. This Koala, obviously feeling threatened, started chasing after one of them, and it, as usual, ran fast. As it was running, it was grunting and growling. The bloke said that he had never been so scared in his life as the Koala chased him a fair way before giving up.