Koala

The photo is taken from Wikipedia.

Mammals, they (or rather, we, since humans also are mammals in the animal kindom.) are the only animal that have hair all over our bodies and feed our young with milk. Our numbering is about 4,000 species and have a very wide variety.

One of us mammals lives in Eastern Australia, size can go up to 33.5 in., or 85 cm, long and it lives on a tree... You got it! It's the koala!

Those cute cuddly fur balls are one of Australia's most famous animals. Although it is often called a koala bear, but they are quite different from a real bear. The koala is a marsupial species, that means they have a pouch on their bellies as a nursery for their young, and it feeds entirely on leaves of the gum tree, or eucalyptus, and you know what? Koalas don't drink water, they get all their liquids through their food!

Koalas have sharp claws that allow them to climb trees to the food on the top, even if the tree trunk is smooth and shinny.Weight varies from about 14 kg (31 lb) for a large southern male, to about 5 kg (11 lb) for a small northern female. The koala has five fingers and just like us, they also have finger prints! Here's something interesting, they two opposable thumbs, that means those thumbs can go backwards, providing better gripping ability.

Females reach maturity at 2 to 3 years of age, males at 3 to 4 years. A healthy mother usually have one baby at a time each year for about 12 years. Gestation is 35 days. Twins are very rare; their pouches open near the end of their bodies, so when they are upright, the opening is actually facing downwards! But don't worry about those babies falling out though, even if it sounds dangerous, but they never fall out.

Young remain hidden in the pouch for about six months, only feeding on milk. During this time they grow ears, eyes, and fur. They start to wean on their mom's milk at age 6 months, and start eating leaves completely at the age of one year. Young females disperse to nearby areas at that time; young males often stay in the mother's home range until they are two or three years old.

The koala is very slow for a mammal, because it has a very low metabolic rate, and because of that reason, it can rest motionless for about 16 to 18 hours a day. Don't let that lazy bone act fool you though, koalas can be aggressive towards each other, throwing a foreleg around their opponent and biting, but most aggressive behavior is brief squabbles.

Koalas spend about three of their five active hours eating. Feeding occurs at any time of day, but usually at night. Koalas eat an average of 500 g (18 oz) of eucalyptus leaves each day.