Ranger Rick Zoobooks: Koalas & Other Australian Animals
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Koalas look like they were made to be cuddled. In fact, koalas koalas look so much like living teddy bears that many people still call them koala bears.
But koalas are not bears. They are not even closely related to bears. Instead, they are marsupials. Like other marsupials (and unlike bears), koalas have pouches that they use for carrying their babies.
To see koalas living free, you have to go to Australia. Koalas like to eat the leaves of certain eucalyptus trees, and Australia is where those trees grow.
Koalas are very fussy about the kinds of eucalyptus leaves they eat. There are nearly 900 kinds of eucalyptus trees growing in Australia, but koalas will eat from only 40-50 types. Some koalas will eat only two or three kinds of leaves. They would rather go hungry than eat anything else!
Koalas at the zoo are very often asleep when we see them. This is because koalas are nocturnal animals. That means that they usually sleep during the day and are more awake at night.
A fully grown koala may be 3 feet long, but most adults are about 2 feet long. They weigh between 10 and 30 pounds. And most wild koalas live between 10 and 15 years.