by Kevin R Newell

Created on: February 24, 2009

Koala

Classification Kingdom - Animalia

Phylum - Chordata

Class - Mammalia

Order - Diprotodontia

Family - Phascolarctidae

Genus - Phascolarctos

Description

The Koala is grey in colour with some slight variations and has a thicker coat. The under belly is usually white in colour. They Koala have very large and sharp claws on both fore and hind paws and this is to help them climb and hold on to the tree they spend most of their time in. On each paw the Koala has five digits with opposable thumbs to maximize their grip. A unique feature about the Koala digits is that they are one a very few mammals that have finger prints along with primates and humans. Koalas weigh anything from 5kg up to 14 kg for a large creature. Koala teeth match their herbivore diets with grinding cheek teeth to chew their food and front incisors to clip the leaves off. They also have big fluffy ears and a large rounded black nose.

Habitat

Koalas are solely found in Australia and found in New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland areas. In all these areas the Koala vary slightly in size and sometimes in colour and therefore some say there are 3 species of Koala but this is not confirmed. The Koala spend a great deal of its time up in the eucalyptus tree which can be founds in a vast array of eco-systems from swamps to rain forest. Just where ever the eucalyptus grows.

Breeding

The Koala can have one joey (baby Koala) each year. When the adult reach maturity females 2-36 years old and males 3-4 years old they can start to mate. Once the females has conceived it will carry the baby for a 35 days gestation period. When the Joey is born they are like most mammals hairless and blind. The joey will make its way to the mothers pouch on her belly and will find and attach it self to one of her two teats, where it will feed on her milk for six months. The Joey will develop further growing its fur, ears and opening its eyes and then moves onto taking its mothers pap to get it prepared to deal with the toxins in the eucalyptus leaves by providing it with the necessary microbes. The joey will stay with its mother until fully weaned around the age of 1 years. They will then adventure out and explore their environment with males likely to stay closer to their mothers.

Food Habits

Koalas solely eat the leaves of the eucalypts tree and spend a great deal of times up these trees eating, digesting and sleeping amongst there favoured food. Eating the eucalyptus makes the Koala a unique animal as it is toxic to most species. The Koala livers neutralises the toxins in the leaves so it does not harm the Koala. Being a slow moving creature its metabolism is also very slow which helps the Koala take the most nutrients from the leaves as possible. Koalas eat a wide range of eucalyptus and here are some of their favourite, Blue Gum, Grey Gum, Manna Gum, River Red Gum and Swamp Gum. There are around 680 species of eucalyptus for the koala to choose from.

Population Status

The Koala is listed as a propriety species under the Australian Government conservation status assessment. There wide population are reported to vary from as little as 80,000 to 100,000 plus left. In the past the species has had terrible times being nearly hunted to extinction and then when the numbers raised they were culled in the early 1900's. Now with the population stable and steady there are many groups watching and making sure they do not fall into the threaten species listing.

Males/Females

Between both sexes there a very few visible differences, with the males usually being the large of the two. The mothers is the sole carer of the baby joey for it full infant and weaning period.

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