Koalas
(Family: Phascolarctidae)
The Koala is famed throughout the world and is often, mistakenly, called a bear. The Koala lives solely on a low energy diet of eucalypt leaves and spends up to 20 hours per day sleeping. Perhaps more sloth-like in habits than bear-like, but nonetheless a marsupial that has a pouch for protecting the newborn young (joey), that are born in the very early stages of development and develop in the mother’s pouch for around 6 months. Bears are eutherian mammals, which have a placenta to nourish the young as they develop within the body, and give birth to their young at a well-developed stage.