By Brittany Groves,Elm Street School

The Koala Bear is a warm-blooded mammal. It’s nickname is “Native Bear.” It’s scientific name is Phasclarctos Emereus. They have white on the underside of their stomach and gray on the rest of their body. The Koala has big ears and a big nose. They have very sharp teeth and sharp claws. Their fur is really thick. They are marsupials. The baby of a female Koala, which are referred to as their cubs, stay in the pouch of the mother and drink milk in the pouch until they are about five months old. They usually cling onto the mother’s head or back. They permanently stay out of the mother’s pouch when they are eight months old. They can go off on their own when they are twelve months old. An adult Koala can grow to be twenty-five to thirty inches long. When a baby Koala gets to be one month old, they are only one cm. long. The female Koala only has one cub per liter. They are blind when born. The average everyday Koala is fifteen to thirty pounds.

Their related animals are the Kangaroo and the Wombat. They are more close to the Wombat though. The Koala Bears live in gum trees. They usually live in groups if there are enough trees present, but there is only one Koala per tree. The male Koala is territorial in the breeding season, during summer. The Koalas communicate by making a noise like a snore and then a belch. The Koala’s enemies are humans (poachers), goannas, eagles, owls, and dingoes. The Koala has very few enemies.

The Koala can live to up to twenty years and more. They are strong swimmers, love to climb, but are a little clumsy. They run as fast as a rabbit. They sleep up to nineteen hours a day and eat two point five pounds of food a day. They live on the East coast of Australia. Their climate there is hot, light, and dry.

The Koala Bears used to be an endangered species. Over two million Koala Bears were killed between 1908 and 1927. They were usually killed for their fur. Today, there are only two to eight thousand Koala Bears in the wild. Much of the Koala’s territory on the East coast of Australia have roads and urban development crisscrossing through where they live. There have been many reported road kills. There are also many diseases killing them now. The pet animals, like dogs from town, are killing the Koalas.