Koala (Phascolarctos cinereus)
Koalas are Australia's national emblem. Compared to other mammals they have a very small brain, which might be due to their low-energy diet of leaves. As a result of this diet, koalas spend 20 hours a day sleeping to conserve energy.
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Baby koalas Earth News
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Koalas 'could face extinction'
Australia's koalas could be wiped out within 30 years unless urgent action is taken to halt a decline in population, according to researchers.
About the Koala
The koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) is a thickset arboreal marsupial herbivore 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 near 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.
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The Koala is
Adaptation data provided by Animal Diversity Web
Where can I see them?
This region contains the following habitats:
Species range provided by WWF's Wildfinder
Conservation Status
The Koala is Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
- EX - Extinct
- EW
- CR - Threatened
- EN - Threatened
- VU - Threatened
- NT
- LC - Least concern
Population trend: Unknown
Year assessed: 2008
Elsewhere on the web
- Koala - Phascolarctos cinereus (arkive.org)
- Phascolarctidae (animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu)
- DigiMorph: skull scans of a koala (digimorph.org)
- IUCN Red List information (iucnredlist.org)
- Koala.com: information (thekoala.com)
- Koala (wikipedia.org)
Site links
BBC links
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