Koala
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© Australian Museum
Fast Facts
-
- NSW Conservation Status
- Vulnerable species
-
Classification
- Species
- cinereus
- Genus
- Phascolarctos
- Family
- Phascolarctidae
- Order
- Diprotodontia
- Subclass
- Marsupialia
- Class
- Mammalia
- Subphylum
- Vertebrata
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Kingdom
- Animalia
-
- Size Range
- 68-82 cm
Introduction
The Koala is one of Australia's best-known animals.
Identification
The Koala's thick ash-grey fur, white chest and round head with fluffy ears make this species unmistakable.
Habitat
The Koala lives in eucalypt forests.
Distribution
The Koala has a disjointed distribution from northern Queensland to southern Victoria and south-eastern South Australia. The Koala is no longer as common in Sydney as it once was. Clearing and fragmentation of its habitat for housing developments and farming have significantly reduced its distribution.
Feeding and diet
The Koala has a highly specialised diet made up of the leaves of certain species of eucalypts as well as some flowers and stems. The eucalypt leaves are high in fibre and the Koala has a long caecum (part of the large intestine) to aid with digestion. The leaves also have a high moisture content and the name Koala is an Aboriginal term meaning 'no drink'.
Other behaviours and adaptations
Most of the Koala's time is spent in eucalypt trees sleeping and feeding, although occasionally it travels along the ground like its closest relatives, the wombats.
Breeding behaviours
The Koala is solitary and the larger males have scent glands on their chest. Breeding occurs during summer and usually one baby, or joey, is produced each year. After six months in the pouch, the joey is gradually weaned from milk, to leaves and soft liquid faeces, called pap, from the mother. This is thought to provide the right bacteria needed to digest eucalypt leaves.
Conservation status
It has been listed as Vulnerable in New South Wales and a remnant population around Avalon on Sydney's northern beaches is listed as an Endangered population under the NSW Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995.
