Koala Facts for Kids

22 Koala Facts For Kids

1. The koala is a small arboreal marsupial mammal that is a member of the Phascolarctidae family.
2. The binomial name for the koala is Phascolarctos cinereus.
3. German zoologist Georg Goldfuss was the first person to scientifically describe the koala in 1817.
4. The first koala-like animals lived about 25 million years ago according to fossil evidence discovered by paleontologists.
5. A common mistake is people call the kola a “koala bear”, but they are not a Usriade (bear), they are a marsupial.
6. You can identify a koala by their black oval shaped nose, fluffy ears, round head and their stout, tailless body.
7. The koala is native to and found on the Australian continent.
8. The koala is found in eastern Australia and includes Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia.
9. The koala’s preferred habitat is open eucalyptus woodland.
10. The koala is one of the most iconic and recognizable animals in Australia.
11. There are between 30,000 and 60,000 koalas living in Australia.
12. The koala is considered a vulnerable species by the IUCN due to their population decline and habitat loss.
13. The koala is herbivore and eats only plant material.
14. The diet of a koala is almost entirely eucalyptus leaves.
15. Koalas consume around 1.1 pounds of leaves each day.
16. The exclusive and restricted diet of the koala causes it to be sedentary (low activity).
17. The color of a koala varies by where it lives but can be light grey to dark brown.
18. The average length of a koala is between 24 and 33 inches.
19. The average weight of a koala is between 9 and 33 pounds.
20. The average lifespan of a koala is between 13 and 18 years, typically females live longer than males.
21. The average adult koala sleeps around 20 hours a day.
22. A male koala is referred to as a buck, a female koala is referred to as a doe and a juvenile koala is referred to as a joey.

Koala Pictures

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then the below images will be helpful for your research on koalas. Below are three pictures of various koala species. These pictures should help you better understand what a koala looks like.

A picture of the koala phascolarctos cinereus.

A picture of a mother koala and baby koala.

A picture of a baby koala in a tree.