No Teddy Bears Here!
Koalas look like cuddly teddy bears, but are really members of a very different and special group, the marsupials. One marsupial you may be familiar with is the kangaroo. It carries its young in a pouch, the trademark of marsupials. Most marsupials are found on the island continent of Australia. North America has only one representative marsupial, the opossum.

Community Life: This Is My Home
Koalas are not very friendly to each other. They do not interact with each other except in territorial disputes and to mate. A male koala "owns" about 15 trees in his territory. He scent marks by urinating or rubbing a gland on his chest against a tree trunk declaring ownership ofthat tree. The bellow of the male is low pitched and can be heard for up to 800 meters. It may announce his presence to other males or to females. Females wail, snarl, and scream to communicate.

Marsupials are very small and underdeveloped when they are born. A newborn koala weighs 1/50 of an ounce and is 3/4 of an inch long-about the size of a peanut! Using powerful front legs and paws, it crawls into its mother's pouch and attaches to a nipple in order to drink milk, grow, and develop. By seven months of age, the joey pokes its head out and gradually starts to explore, squeaking to call for its mother. By 12 months the youngster is weaned, but will return to the pouch for safety until it is 18 months old. Soon after, the young koala leaves for good to find a home of its own.

Laid-back In The Outback
A koala leads a slow-paced life. About 14.5 hours of its day are spent sleeping, with another 4.8 hours resting. Foraging requires another 4.7 hours, leaving only four minutes per day for travel!

Physical Adaptations: How Do I Do What I Do?
Koalas are nocturnal or active at night, and it's late evening when they move from tree to tree. Their front paws have long, sharp claws, well adapted for climbing. Two of the digits function as thumbs and are opposable to the other digits giving them an excellent grip.

Koalas feed mainly on the leaves, shoots, soft stems, flowers, and bark of the eucalyptus trees in which they live. It is a diet high in fiber and low in protein. Their digestive system has a cecum that contains microorganisms that help them digest their high fiber diet. Since some types of eucalyptus are toxic during certain seasons of the year, the cecum may also function to detoxify the food. Generally, koalas sniff and accept or reject each leaf they pick. Most of the water a koala needs is in the leaves that they eat.

Conservation: Together We Can Make It Happen!
Even though koalas are common where they are found, they face problems shared with wildlife all over the world. The most pressing problem is loss of habitat. Many eucalyptus tracts are being cleared, leaving "islands" of trees. Koalas do not move very far, and certainly not very fast! Movement increases risk of predation by Australian wild dogs. Perhaps even more important, scattered habitat may keep them from finding mates. Planting trees as corridors or pathways between the forest "islands" may help insure their future.

Fortunately, many people all over the world know and love koalas. Concerned Australian citizens have formed groups to help koalas by planting trees and caring for those injured by domestic pets, highways or pesticides.

The Australian government has strict laws to regulate exportation and hunting of koalas. International law also protects them by regulating trade of live koalas and koala products.

Cecum: a pouch-like sac at the start of the large intestine