KOALAS

NAME

• Phascolarctos cinereus Is the Koalas latin name.
• Phaskolos means pouch.
• Arktos means bear.
• Cinereus means ash coloured.
• So Koala means pouch bear ashcoloured.

SPECIES

• They are the sole member of the Phascolarctidae
• Subspecies are:
• P.C Victor (Victoria)
• P.C Cinereus (New South Wales)
• P.C Adustus (Queensland)

REPRODUCTION

• Usually Koalas produce only a single young, rarely producing twins.
• Females start breeding from the age of 3 or 4 and the pregnancy process lasts for 34-36 days.
• At birth a cub is roughly 19mm long and weighs 0.5g.
• A cub stays with it's mother until about 12months old and weighs over 2kg.
• The breeding season is September through to March.

DIET

• Koalas are herbivores and mainly eat eucalyptus leaves.
• Australia has over 600 types of eucalypts.
• Koalas are fussy and will only eat 40-50 varieties
• Koalas don't sleep alot not because there drunk on eucalypts,
• it's because eucalyptus takes a long time to digest.

Habitats

HABITAT

• Koalas live on the east side of Australia.
• Koalas live in tall open eucalypt (gum tree) forrests.
• Koalas can only live in bushland where their favourite trees are growing.
• In most cases humans are responsible for the damaged eco-systems.
• Humans are the principal predator of Koalas because we ruin their homes.

FACTS

• Life spans vary due to stress factors averaging 13-18 years.
• Unlike bears or seals koalas don't have a layer of fat below the skin as installation.
• The closest relative of a koala is a wombat.
• Koalas are not bears but are marsupials.
• Koala in Aboriginal means 'animal that does not drink.'

BIBLIOGRAPHY

• https://www.savethekoala.com/about-koalas/interesting-facts
• http://thekoala.com
• http://koalas.org/koala-info.html