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All about Koalas. Habitat. Once koalas lived every where, but now the only place in the wild you can find them is Australia
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Habitat • Once koalas lived every where, but now the only place in the wild you can find them is Australia • There are 3 species of koalas: Victor, Cinereus and Adustun. The victor spices is from Victoria, the Cinereus is from New Southern wales and the Adustus is from Queensland • All koalas live in eucalyptus trees, however no koala do not have permanent homes • They do not like: thick bushes or grass • 1 male shares his home of 15 trees with 6 females
body • Koalas grow to be up to be 2 feet tall • Koalas are fully grown at 4 years old • An adult koala is about the size of a bull dog • Koalas do not have tails • Koalas have small eyes compared to other nocturnal animals • Koalas have about 30 teeth • mother koalas have pouches like a kangaroo except they are upside down
Body: covering • Koalas have a wooly water coat to help keep warm in winter and dry in rain • Their fur blends in with the tree barks • The fur changes according to the weather • Koalas have white fur under their chin and four arm • Their rump is padded fur so they can get a soft cushioning for the hard branches it sits on
Body: armsandlegs • Koalas have powerful arms and legs • The front paw of a koala has 2 thumbs and 3 fingers • The back paw of a koala has 5 toes • Except for the first all the toes on the back have claws • Koalas use claws to climb • 1st toe works like a thumb 2nd and 3rd toe are joined together 4th and 5th are used for climbing • Koalas connect their toes for scratching • They have pads on their front toe to prevent them from getting hurt if they fall of a tree
Koalascuisine • eat eucalyptus (yoo-cal-iptus) trees, nibbles stems, and barks from trees • They eat only the older leaves, younger leaves are poison to them • Normally do noteat same thing every meal • Hardly drink that is why they are called koalas that means no drink • Mothers give pap to the babies(chewed food that has been saved) and believe it or not the babies like it • They climb high to get plenty of more eucalyptus trees
About koala babies • Mothers give birth to their babies only once every other year • Twins are extremely rare • Babies are called Joes • Joes are born blind and deaf • They are pink and furless • Babies live in a pouch in their mommy's tummy • Mommy cleans her pouch before her baby is born • Just like humans Joes kick their moms • At 6 months they get fur • They stay in there mothers pouch for 6-8 months • After a while the mother says no to staying in the mothers pouch • Usually a Joey is too scared to get out of the mother’s pouch • After coming out the joey rides on their mothers back • By 12 months they start eating eucalyptus leaves • At 18 months the young koala lives alone
Whattheyare/ whattheyarenot • Koalas are mammals • They are nocturnal • They are marsupial (mar-soo-pi-als) a type of animal that has a pouch • Koalas are more related to kangaroos than bears
What can they do? • Koalas are excellent sniffers • Koalas never lose their amazing sense of smell • They are strong swimmers • They avoid each other • They are fast climbers
Snoozing time • Koalas sleep 18-22 hours a day • They sleep in any position that is comfortable for them • Koalas like sleeping as much as eating • They may fall asleep if the tree while chewing if the tree is comfortable
Survival • Koalas climb 150 ft. high to be safe • Eucalyptus trees provide them with protection from rain and shade them from sun
Protecting koalas • Some scientist estimate there to be 40,000-80,000 koalas left in the wild • People used to kill koalas for their fur • Since1927 there was a law to protect koalas • Fortunately there are people who help protect koalas • Their predators are: Eagles (because they snatch their babies and dingos (a type of dog) that kill koalas
Bibliography • Koala magic for kids by Kathy Feeney 1956 • Natures Children koalas By Elizabeth MacLeod 1989 Made in the U.S.A