The koala is a marsupial mammal, native to Australia, belonging to the order of the Diprodontia ( Diprotodontos ), being the only species assigned to the family Phascolarctidae ( Fascolarctidae ). Its scientific name is Phascolarctos cinereus .
Their appearance is somewhat similar to toy bears. It is an arboreal and herbivorous marsupial, because it has a pouch or pouch located on the ventral surface, open backwards. The word "marsupial" comes from the Latin marsupium , which means "bag."
Newly born pups are not very developed, they are small, blind, and hairless, just at birth, they climb up to the mother's marsupial bag, where they will remain consuming milk provided by the mother, until they complete their development.
The koala is a tender, friendly, peaceful, docile and fearful animal. Equally lazy since it sleeps a lot and shows a certain slowness in its movements, especially when its food is scarce, its way of moving to another tree is even slower to save its energy.
The size of the koala is small, the males weigh about 12 kg and the females less, its body is thin and muscular, the legs and arms are short, it has thick and soft brown and gray skin. Its feet are shaped like hands, on the front legs it has five fingers, two of which are thumbs. This makes the koala grip much more tightly.
They live only in Australia, their main and only food is eucalyptus, that is why they live and spend most of their lives in the trees of this kind of leaf. " Koala " is an Australian word that means "animal that does not drink"; He never drinks water, he quenches his thirst with the oily liquid that eucalyptus leaves contain.
Unfortunately, because of its very special diet and poor health, we don't see it in many zoos. Usually, it develops its life at night. Koalas tend to only have one baby at a time, maybe two.
Koalas are endangered species in some parts of Australia, because the forests in which they live are disappearing. Also, a eucalyptus forest can only support a certain number of koalas, so animals in overcrowded or destroyed habitats starve to death.
There is also the danger of predators and illegal hunting due to its fur. Currently there is the Australian Koala Foundation (FAK), which is an international organization whose main purpose is the long-term conservation and effective management of the koala in the wild in Australia.
