Koalas are australian marsupials that live in Eucalyptus forest and woodlands, they are unique to Australian wildlife, and are dawn-dusk active animals, spending most of the day sleeping or resting; a koala may sleep up to 18-20 hours a day.

Koalas have grey and white, or brown and white fur. Their feet are adapted to tree climbing – the front feet have 2 thumbs and 3 fingers, while their hind feet have only 1 thumb each.

Koalas are herbivores and only eat the leaves of certain Eucalyptus species. There are many species available to the koala but each colony may not eat the same assortment of Eucalypts – it depends on the area in which the koalas are found. Eucalyptus leaves are high in water (60-80%) and fibre but low in protein. With such low nutritional value it’s no surprise the koala looks sleepy all the time – they’re not drunk!

Koalas breed in late spring, and the female will give birth to a single young (joey) after 33-36 days. When the joey is born it is approximately 1cm in length and will crawl into the mother’s pouch and attach itself to a teat, where it will remain for the following 6 months. Check out the australian wildlife conservation video map icon to the right of this article for more interesting Koala video footage.