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Let's learn about koalas!
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Although you may have heard them called koala 'bears,' koalas are not bears at all!
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Like bears, koalas are mammals, which means they are warm-blooded, have fur, and feed
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their babies milk.
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Unlike bears, koalas are a special kind of mammal called 'marsupials.'
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Marsupials have pouches to carry their babies in for a few months after they are born.
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Kangaroos are probably the most famous marsupials, but koalas have pouches too!
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Baby koalas are called joeys.
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When they are born, they are only about the size of a jellybean.
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They have no fur and their eyes and ears are closed.
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Koala joeys will stay in their mothers' pouches for about six months.
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Once a baby koala comes out of the pouch, it will hang onto its mother's back or stomach
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and stay with her for another six months.
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Full grown koalas reach lengths of 24 to 33 inches or 60 to 85 cm, and weights of up to
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33 lbs or 15 kg, although the females are usually much smaller.
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Koalas are native to eastern Australia, where the eucalyptus forests they call their home
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grow.
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They are herbivores and eat almost exclusively eucalyptus leaves.
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Although there are about 600 types of eucalyptus trees in Australia, koalas will only eat about
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120 of them, and an individual koala will only eat leaves from about 4 to 6 types.
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Eucalyptus trees are both food and a home for koalas.
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Koalas have short, curved claws, ideal for climbing trees, and two thumbs on their front
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paws that help them to grip small branches.
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They rarely even come to the ground to drink: the name 'koala' is from an Aboriginal word
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meaning 'no drink,' because koalas get most of their water from the leaves they eat.
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Koalas spend almost all of their time in the treetops, eating, or more likely, sleeping.
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Koalas usually sleep between 18 and 22 hours a day - it takes a lot of energy to digest
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eucalyptus leaves.
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Eucalyptus leaves are poisonous to most animals, but koalas have an extra-long digestive system
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that allows them to break down the leaves without being hurt by the poison.
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Although koalas are not currently endangered, they are in trouble.
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Once they were hunted in large numbers for their soft fur.
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Although they are protected now, they need plenty of eucalyptus trees - about 100 trees
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per koala - to have enough food to eat.
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As the forests they live in are cut down by humans, koalas have fewer and fewer places
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to live.
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If we want to make sure that koalas stay healthy and happy, we need to protect their habitats
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so they have enough trees to call home.
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I hope you enjoyed learning about koalas today.
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Goodbye till next time!