How much can a koala bear…

Author Andrew Turner ◦

An iconic Australian animal, the koala bear is not actually a bear, belonging to the subclass classification group known as Marsupialia, aka Marsupial. Often depicted as cute and cuddly, they have sharp claws and should not be approached in the wild.

Their popularity in modern culture, see the koala making appearances as stuffed toys, tourist giftware, in children’s books and artworks.

One of the unique features of marsupials, is their reproductive strategy: the young are born in a undeveloped state, being nutured within a pouch on the mother’s abdomen, and living in the mother’s pouch for about six months. When the young koala, known as a joey, emerges from the pouch, it will ride on the mother’s back. The mother continues to care for the joey until it reaches about a year old. The joey feeds on her milk, before transitioning to eucalyptus leaves.

Some koalas are wearable and just fun… 😀

We turned this photograph into a large fridge magnet…

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Check out our section on Marsupials | Koala and the Kyabram Fauna Park