FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

ARE KOALAS PERMITTED TO BE KEPT AS PETS?

No, it is not permitted anywhere in the world. It is illegal to have a Koala as a pet anywhere, even in Australia. The only people who are permitted to have a Koala in their possession besides suitably authorised zoos are, occasionally, scientists, and the people who are taking care of sick or injured Koalas or orphaned joeys. These people must have a special permit from wildlife authorities to do this work and the carers must return the animals to the wild as soon as they are well enough or, in the case of joeys, old enough, to take care of themselves.

WHERE DOES THE WORD “KOALA” COME FROM?

“Koala” is thought to have meant “no drink” in one of the Aboriginal languages. Koalas don’t need to drink very often because they get most of the moisture they need from eucalyptus leaves. However, they can drink from waterholes and creeks etc if necessary, such as in times of drought when the eucalyptus leaves contain less moisture than normal.

WHAT IS THE NAME (COLLECTIVE NOUN) FOR A GROUP OF KOALAS?

There's no collective noun for a group of Koalas moving around together because Koalas don't move around in groups like dolphins or some birds. They are fairly solitary creatures, although they do like to be living in overlapping home ranges in bushland with other Koalas. We usually call these groups “Koala populations” or “Koala colonies”.

WHAT ARE THE NAMES FOR MALE AND FEMALE KOALAS?

Scientists often refer to a male Koala as a “buck” and a female as a “doe”. A baby Koala is called a “joey” .

HOW LONG DO KOALAS LIVE? HOW OLD IS THE OLDEST KNOWN KOALA?

In the wild in undamaged habitat, the average life span of a Koala is about 10 years. However, where habitat is damaged, such as in suburban areas, they may only live for a few months or years because of the dangers from cars and dogs. Males tend to have a shorter life span than females because of the stresses of fights during the breeding season and the fact that they tend to move around more than females in search of mates, thus putting them in increased danger from dogs and cars.

HOW MANY HOURS DO KOALAS SLEEP EACH DAY?

Usually between 18 to 22 hours. They sleep a lot to conserve energy as their diet requires a lot of energy to digest.

DO KOALAS HAVE A BACKWARD-FACING POUCH?

The pouch is actually situated in the centre of the female's abdomen and the opening faces straight outwards, rather than backwards. However, the pouch opening is towards the bottom of the pouch, so when the joey is larger and puts its head out of the pouch it can appear that the pouch faces backwards.

HOW MANY SPECIES OF KOALAS ARE THERE?

There is only one species of Koala. However, there appears to be some difference of opinion amongst the scientific community about whether there are 2 or 3 sub-species (or 'races') of Koalas, or even if there are any sub-species at all.

WHAT IS THE IMPORTANCE OF HAVING NATIONAL PARKS FOR PROTECTING KOALAS?

National parks---and other types of protected habitat---are a great concept and can be very important for small pockets of habitat and wildlife. In Australia, however, only a tiny fraction of habitats are lucky enough to have this protection. These parks tend to be the more rugged and unusual areas less suitable for agriculture, whereas Koalas prefer the same fertile lands that people like for agriculture and urban development. Many national parks are small and isolated much like “islands”, suffer declining health (eg. weed invasion) and ‘trap’ Koalas in. Eighty percent of Koala habitat is situated on privately-owned land (eg. farmland), not in national parks. This is why the AKF wants legislation that will prevent people from cutting down habitat on their land and provide incentives for them to protect and manage habitat for Koalas and other wildlife.