| COMMON NAME: |
Koala |
| LATIN NAME: |
Phascolarctos cinereus |
| MEANING: |
Phascolarctos - "pouched-bear"; cinereus -"ash- coloured" |
| FOOD: |
Eucalypt leaves. They can survive without drinking in winter. |
| HABITAT: |
Eucalypt forests and woodlands. |
| LOCALITY: |
NSW, QLD, SA, VIC. |
| LENGTH: |
680-820 mm |
| WEIGHT: |
7-13.5 kg |
| BEHAVIOUR: |
Mainly active at night, usually seen resting or feeding in upper branches of eucalypt trees. They are solitary and will sometimes attack other koalas in their home range (up to 240 m wide). Males use secretions from their chest gland to mark a territory which may overlap that of a female. Juveniles disperse to find their own home range at 2 years, becoming nomadic if no suitable area is found. They climb slowly, grasping a tree trunk with the forefeet and pulling the hindlimbs up. Koalas can jump up to 2 m between branches. On the ground they walk on all fours, run with a bounding gait and can swim if necessary. Their vocalisations include bellowing, high pitched yelps, soft grunts, snarls, wails and screams.
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| DEVELOPMENT: |
Females are sexually mature at 2 years and males at 3-4 years. Koalas mate in trees, giving birth to a single young (rarely two) from October to March, 34-36 days later. Newborn attach to one of two teats in the rear-opening pouch, which they leave at 6-7 months and ride on the mother's back until weaned at 12 months. They live to 15 years although most survive only 3-4 years.
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| DESCRIPTION: |
A short, stocky marsupial with fine woolly fur, light to dark grey above with brown and white patches and white to yellowish below. The head is broad and flat with large hairy ears, a bare, flattened nose and small eyes. The tail is reduced to a stump. The limbs are long with long pointed claws. The first 2 fingers of the forefeet oppose the other three. The hindfeet have an opposing first toe, the second and third toes are joined with a double claw.
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