KOALA FACT SHEET

STAGE THREE ( Years 5 & 6 )

Habitat
Koalas evolved millions of years ago in the ancient forests of Australia. Today they are found in eastern Australia, along the coast, from Queensland to New South Wales and Victoria.

Koalas depend on eucalyptus trees for food and shelter. They develop a home-range of trees which they visit regularly. If their home range is destroyed, they may die trying to find a new home.

Appearance
A healthy koala has thick, grey, woolly fur, which protects them from both heat and cold. It works like a raincoat - repelling the water with a thin eucalyptus oil coating.

A koala’s nose is covered with a black, leathery skin. It is very sensitive to all the smells of the bush. Koalas sniff the gum leaves to find which ones to eat.

Koalas are well adapted to living in trees. They have strong forelimbs and excellent balance, despite having only a very small tail. Their bodies are lean and muscular, although they appear round and fluffy.

Koala paws are designed for griping and climbing, with rough pads on their palms and soles. There are five ‘fingers’ on each front paw- two of these are opposed to the others and work as thumbs.

Babies
Koalas are marsupials, which means the babies are born the size of a jelly bean before climging into their mother koalas pouch where they grow into what we can recognise as a koala. They live inside the pouch, drinking milk, for about 6-8 months. Then the joey will begin to investigate the outside world in the treetops.

The joey’s first solid food is pre-digested gum leaves or pap. The mother provides this at just the right stage of development when the joey is about to start eating gum leaves. Pap contains all the enzymes needed to digest eucalyptus leaves and gives the joey extra protein at a critical stage of its life.

Joeys will stay with their mothers for 18 months - 2 years.

Diet
Koalas are fussy eaters and depend on having enough of the gum trees that they like to eat. Their favorites include Forest Red-gum, Tallow wood and Swamp Mahogany. Other gum trees eaten are Flooded gum, Grey gum, Peppermint gum, Blue gum and they are even known to eat some species of trees that are not gums.

Too many trees have been cut down for developments like towns, farms, roads, logging or mines.
Each patch of forest can only support a set population of koalas. If there are too many koalas in that patch, they will starve. When there are vast spaces between gum trees there is a greater chance of a koala being hit by a car or attacked by a dog when they are moving in between trees looking for their next meal.

Loss of suitable habitat is the koalas’ greatest threat. It is something we can control. We need to let our government know that keeping koala food trees is important to all of us! Every koala is precious.

Predators
A koala’s natural predators include the powerful owl and wedge-tailed eagle. It has been known for large goannas and snakes to knock baby koalas to the ground – then go down and eat them!

On the ground koalas are vulnerable to dogs and foxes. Of course cars and trucks are a serious danger to koalas if they try to cross roads – searching for food or mates.

Behaviour
Koalas sleep 19-20 hours a day. They are active at night, when they feed and move from tree to tree. Resting during the day conserves energy.

Male koalas mark their home trees with a scent gland on their chest. This warns other males to stay away. Dominant males are territorial and may fight with young males, who are searching for a home-range of their own.

Koalas communicate with each other using a large range of snorting or bellowing sounds. Mothers and joeys exchange soft grunts or clicks. People who live near koalas say they are very noisy at night.

How to Help
Preserving habitat is the only way to help koalas survive in the wild. We can help by protecting and restoring koala habitat and by planting local koala food trees in suitable places. Areas of habitat can be joined to form corridors – along which koalas can move freely and safely.

Friends of the Koala provide habitat trees free of charge, with information on site selection, planting and after-care. More trees = more koalas.

Support a Koala by raising funds at school and adopting a koala in care. It can cost up to $1000 to rehabilitate a sick or injured koala including medications, veterinary treatment and food. All donations are gratefully received and all monies go directly towards koala care.

Be aware of areas around where you live, where koalas cross roads. Drive slowly and keep dogs contained from dusk to dawn.