Top 10 facts about Koalas
Discover more about the Koala, the issues and threats they are facing, and what you can do to help.

1. Koala means ‘no drink’
The word "koala" is thought to originate from one of the Australian Aboriginal languages, Dharug, which roughly translates to ‘no drink’ or ‘no water’. And this might explain why. In the Australian bush, koalas rarely drink water as the majority of their water intake comes from eating fresh eucalyptus leaves. Koalas drinking water is uncommon in the wild, although they can do so if necessary, especially during heat waves, droughts or bushfires.

2. They have a specialist diet comprising of poisonous leaves
Koalas are folivore specialists, feeding mainly on Eucalyptus leaves, and occasional leaves of other plant species. The koala’s digestive system is particularly good at tolerating its toxic eucalyptus diet, which, even in small amounts, can often be poisonous and fatal to most animals when ingested.
Special liver enzymes and symbiotic gut bacteria help to break down poisonous compounds, thus allowing koalas to survive on a diet of eucalyptus leaves. They can eat up to a kilogram a day without even breaking a sweat!

3. They live in one of the driest continents in the world
70% of Australia is either arid or semi-arid land, since the continent receives so little rain. Hence, most of the country’s unique wildlife has had to adapt to living in dry environments, including koalas.
Koalas are endemic to Australia, where they can only be found in the southeast and eastern parts of the country, along the coastlines of Queensland, New South Wales, South Australia, and Victoria. They live in forests and open woodlands, typically dominated by eucalyptus tree species. In inland areas, koalas can be found living in eucalyptus woodlands close to water sources such as streams and creeks.

4. A Koala is the only surviving member of its family
There is only one species of Koala in the world. It is the only extant member of the family Phascolarctidae, whose closest living relatives are the common wombats. Their wild numbers are estimated to be around 300,000 mature individuals, but showing a declining population trend. Koalas are currently listed as vulnerable by the IUCN.

5. They share more common features with kangaroos than true bears
Koalas are often referred to as ’koala bears’, but this is a misnomer of the past as they are more closely related to kangaroos, bandicoots and possums than to true bears. Koalas are classed as marsupials, a different group of mammals, where females have a special pouch (front-facing or backwards facing) for rearing their young.
A female koala gives birth to live, under-developed offspring—also called joey—who instinctively climb inside its mother’s pouch to finish development. In contrast, true bears are placental mammals, meaning the embryo development and nourishment happens via a placenta, allowing for a longer developmental period within the protection of the womb.

6. They don’t live in social groups
Koalas are mostly asocial marsupials, preferring a solitary lifestyle in the wild. Once young joeys become fully mature, they usually seek out new territory away from home and lead an arboreal lifestyle with minimal social interaction. However, their home range can extensively overlap with other koalas, so it is not uncommon to spot them living in higher densities.
While koalas are highly territorial mammals, they will generally tolerate other members of the same species during the breeding season.

7. They have an excellent sense of smell
Koalas rely heavily on their sense of smell to make better food choices and detect other koalas’ scent markings on trees. They are notoriously selective feeders, using their prominent, leathery nose to differentiate toxin levels in eucalyptus leaves and choose the juiciest, most nutrient rich ones—wild koalas have been observed to sniff leaves before tasting them.

8. They can sleep up to 18 hours a day
The koala may sleep or rest for up to 18-20 hours every day while being tucked into the fork of the tree. Their extraordinary sleeping habit is believed to be an adaptation to their leaf-based diet, as they get very little energy from just eating leaves. Hence, koalas need more rest and sleep than most mammals to conserve their energy in dry environments such as the Australian bush.

9. Koalas can live up to 15 years in the wild
The lifespan of koalas, along with their body sizes, can differ between sexes. Male koalas can be identified by their clearly visible scent gland in the middle of the chest and they are also much larger than female koalas. Male koalas usually live up to 12 years, whereas females of this species can live for much longer, up to 15 years.

10. Their wild numbers are declining.
At present, koalas face multiple threats in the wild, from deforestation, drought, disease, habitat loss, fragmentation, and modification to climate change. Bushfires are fairly common occurrences in the Australian outback, but as climate changes, more frequent and intense fires happen, which poses an increasing threat to koalas. For example, the 2019-20 Australian bushfire season was one of the most unprecedented and deadly wildfires ever experienced by the continent, resulting in the tragic loss of nearly 3 billion animals, including the tree-hugging koalas.

Our work with Wildlife
The WWF report, entitled Australia’s 2019-2020 Bushfires: The Wildlife Toll, revealed the true scale of devastation left in the aftermath of the Australia's 2019-20 bushfires. Nearly three billion animals were killed or displaced, including 143 million mammals, 2.46 billion reptiles, 180 million birds, and 51 million frogs.
In January 2020, the WWF UK bushfires appeal raised over £3.2 million as thousands of supporters signed up to become koala protectors and gave generous donations to help fund the recovery effort. The fund raised helped provide emergency care for injured wildlife, restore homes for koalas and other wildlife, plant the first 10,000 trees urgently needed in koala habitats, and support the response, recovery and restoration teams in Australia.

Go Wild - WWF'S club for kids
Go Wild - WWF'S club for kids
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