Koala Facts for Kids

Koalas are not bears. A mother carries her baby in a pouch, like a kangaroo. Koalas eat leaves and sleep a lot.

A koala eats mostly eucalyptus leaves, which are tough and even poisonous to many animals. They give very little energy, so a koala sleeps most of the day. A baby koala, called a joey, grows in its mother's pouch and then rides on her back.

Koalas are marsupials, not bears, and they live in the eucalyptus forests of eastern Australia. Eucalyptus leaves are toxic to most animals, but koalas have a long gut full of helpful microbes that handle them, and they get most of their water from the leaves. Each front paw has two thumb-like fingers for gripping branches, and sharp claws for climbing. Koalas are in trouble in many places because forests are cleared and bushfires burn their trees, so people are planting eucalyptus and protecting koala forests.