The females become sexually active about 2 years old and the males about 3-4 years old. Each region where the koalas live, have different eucalyptus species, so despite then being essentially the same species, you can’t move koalas from Victoria to Queensland as they don’t recognise, their food trees. In saying that there are more than 700 species of eucalyptus in Australia, of those the koalas tend to eat about 30. Koalas live mostly on the east coast of Australia ( they have been introduced to other places such as South Australia and some islands). Source Save the koala Koala habitat Koala Phascolarctos cinereus victor – Southern or Victorian distribution – also includes Koalas in South Australia. Phascolarctos cinereus cinereus – Intermediate or New South Wales Distribution Phascolarctos cinereus adustus – Northern or Queensland distribution The koalas in the south are bigger and have thicker fur than those in the north. There is only one species of koala, however it is thought they may be as many as three subspecies, which explains the physical variations. It is thought that the koala and wombat diverged from the same ancestor in the Cenozoic era – sometime from 66 million years ago to the present day. These are the only marsupials whose pouches open downward rather than upward like a kangaroo. They are in the sub order Vombatiformes, which includes only the koala and wombat. The koalas take this a step further and have two thumbs on each hand, which aids them when climbing. The other things the order Diprotodontia have in common (other than pouches), is that they have two large, procumbent incisors on the lower jaw (diprotodont – two teeth) they also have syndactyly (fused toes). They are in the order Diprotodontia, which also includes kangaroos, wallabies, wombats, possums, gliders. Which means they have a pouch and their young are called joeys (all marsupial babies are called joeys). Some people incorrectly call them koala bears – but they are not bears, they’re marsupials. The koala ( Phascolarctos cinereus) only lives (naturally) in Australia. How on earth does something like that happen? I hear you ask, read on. Unfortunately due to the folly of white men, we could see the koalas extinction during our lifetimes. Their scientific name is 'Phascolarctoscinereus”, where the Greek word 'phaskolos' means 'pouch', arktos means 'bear' and the Latin word 'cinereus' means 'ash-colored'.On this World Wildlife Day, I’ve chosen to highlight the plight of arguably one of the cutest animal on the planet- the koala.

The mother and her young are in very close bonds the female is happy to carry the joey with her everywhere, until the baby grows old, and becomes independent.Newborn babies of this species are hairless, blind, and as small as a broad bean.Not only koalas are excellent climbers, but they are also good swimmers, known to cross rivers, escaping from heavy flooding in their home range.They consume 12 species of eucalyptus tree out of more than 100 species, found throughout Australia. Koalas feed upon leaves only during a certain stage of growth.They also tend to use their cheek pouches as stocks, where they store snacks of leaves. A koala consumes about 1 kilogram of leaves per day on average, which is a huge amount for the body size of the animal.However, when the temperatures increase, koalas sometimes lose a large amount of water, becoming dehydrated. The animals are so called because they rarely drink water and attain the required moisture from eucalyptus leaves. Their name, 'koala', comes from the Aborigine language and means 'no water'.This, combined with their nutrient-poor diet, is the reason for koalas' sedentary lifestyle. The brain of the koala is less than 0.2% of the animal's body weight.Koalas spend most of the day (up to 18 hours) sleeping.

Koalas predators and threats