Wildlife
Koalas are nocturnal marsupials famous for spending most of their lives asleep in trees. This sedentary lifestyle can be attributed to the fact they have unusually small brains and survive on a diet of nutrient-poor leaves. The koala's leaf of choice is eucalyptus, a particularly fibrous and highly toxic plant. Luckily for koalas, what they lack in brain power they make up for in the length of their intestine, which measures a colossal two metres and is packed with super micro-organisms that detoxify the leaves.
Scientific name: Phascolarctos cinereus
Rank: Species
In order to see this content you need to have an up-to-date version of Flash installed and Javascript turned on.
Red list koalas
Orphaned koala babies get a trip to the vet.
Orphaned koala babies get a trip to the vet.
Baby koalas
Young koalas stay dependent on their mothers for a whole year.
Though not classified as endangered, Australia’s iconic marsupials were placed on the IUCN's Climate Change Hit List following the Copenhagen summit in 2009. Since the European settlement of Australia, koalas have fared badly. In the past two centuries, vast numbers were killed for their fur, but today, it is habitat loss and the impact of urbanisation that are the leading threats. But more than anything, it's their fussiness over food that led the IUCN to nominate them for the climate change hit list. Rising carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere saps the nutrients and causes toxicity levels to rise in the koala's preferred diet of eucalyptus leaves. If eucalyptus becomes unpalatable to koalas, malnutrition and potential starvation will follow.
The following habitats are found across the Koala distribution range. Find out more about these environments, what it takes to live there and what else inhabits them.
Discover what these behaviours are and how different plants and animals use them.
Additional data source: Animal Diversity Web
Least Concern
Population trend: Unknown
Year assessed: 2008
Classified by: IUCN 3.1
The koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) is an arboreal herbivorous marsupial native to Australia, and the only extant representative of the family Phascolarctidae.
The koala is found in coastal regions of eastern and southern Australia, from Adelaide to the southern part of Cape York Peninsula. Populations also extend for considerable distances inland in regions with enough moisture to support suitable woodlands. The koalas of South Australia were largely exterminated during the early part of the 20th century, but the state has since been repopulated with Victorian stock. The koala is not found in Tasmania or Western Australia.
This entry is from Wikipedia, the user-contributed encyclopedia. If you find the content in the 'About' section factually incorrect, defamatory or highly offensive you can edit this article at Wikipedia. For more information on our use of Wikipedia please read our FAQ.
Take a trip through the natural world with our themed collections of video clips from the natural history archive.
Going, going, gone
One third of known species are under threat - do they have more than a future on film? We've unearthed footage of some remarkable animals, plants and habitats that are facing an imminent threat to their survival.
Baby Animals
With Ooh's and Ahh's galore this video clip collection celebrates a world of adorable animal babies.
BBC © 2012 The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more.
This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.
Mediterranean forest
Mountain grassland
Broadleaf forest
Tropical dry forest
Urban
Helpless young
Tree dweller
Adapted to climbing
Dung eater
Acoustic communication
Herbivorous
Maternal care
Nocturnal
Polygynous
Chemical communication
Sexual dimorphism
Visual communication
Viviparous