Facts about Koalas Not a bear but an Australian Marsupial spending most of its life in gum trees. Mating takes place between August and April. After a gestation period of around 34 days usually a single furless joey, the size of a small pea, is born. Within seconds climbs up and down inside the safety of their mothers pouch. Where it remains for 6 to 7 months firmly anchored to one teat. Then venturing outside eats some of its mother ' ' bacteria rich faeces to enable it to begin digesting eucalyptus leaves. Riding on its mother back before at 12 months becoming independent. In the wild live for 8 to 12 years.
What do koalas eat? Their staple diet is eucalyptus leaves. Though there are hundreds of eucalyptus species in Australia they only prefer the leaves from a few, such as the Tasmanian blue gum. Preference varies from location to location. Their name comes from aboriginal meaning 'no drink'. Despite their reputation for spending up to 20 hours a day asleep high in the tree tops they can be surprisingly agile as these photos of a koala jumping from branch to branch show.
The oldest Australian Sanctuary for koalas is at Lone Pine, Brisbane.
Beautiful Australia from the Rock to the Reef - a tourist guide with nice pictures.