Koala – “Aussie Cuddle Bear”

Possibly, along with our kangaroo, the most thought of animal people worldwide associate with Australia, and due in no small part to how exceptionally cute they are. My wife and I have several family photos in our home taken at Australia Zoo or Kuranda Koala Gardens (there are so many places where you can hold one and have your photo taken). Wonderful and memorable. As a group, they are known as a COLONY of koalas.

Koala Bears live around 15 years, living on a diet of around 1kg of eucalyptus leaves daily, and get all the moisture they need from this – they rarely drink water. In fact, the name “koala” means “no water” in the aboriginal language. They sleep around 20 hours a day. As marsupials, koalas carry their young (joeys) in a pouch on their stomach, where it grows for about 6 months. They can grow up to around 85cm tall and weigh as much as 14kg.

Their habitat is under threat due to deforestation from expanding human homes, drought, and bushfires.