Beautiful Pictures of Koala

By Assam on August 29, 2008

The Koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) is a near threatened herbivore animal native to Australia. The Koala is found in coastal regions of eastern and southern Australia, from near Adelaide to the southern part of Cape York Peninsula. Koala is the only living representative of the family Phascolarctidae.

The word koala comes from Dharuk gula. Although the vowel /u/ was originally written in the Latin alphabet as “oo” (in spellings such as coola or koolah), it was changed to “oa” possibly due to an error. The word is erroneously said to mean “doesn’t drink”. The scientific name of the Koala’s genus, Phascolarctos, is derived from Greek phaskolos “pouch” and arktos “bear”. Its species name, cinereus, is Latin and means “ash-coloured”.

The Koala lives almost entirely on eucalypt leaves. This is likely to be an evolutionary adaptation that takes advantage of an otherwise unfilled ecological niche, since eucalypt leaves are low in protein, high in indigestible substances, and contain phenolic and terpene compounds that are toxic to most species.

The Koala was hunted almost to extinction in the early 20th century, largely for its fur. Millions of furs were traded to Europe and the United States, and the population has not fully recovered from such decimations. Extensive cullings occurred in Queensland in 1915, 1917 and again in 1919 when over one million Koalas were killed with guns, poisons and nooses. Today, habitat loss and the impacts of irresponsible urbanisation (for example dog attacks and traffic accidents) are the leading threats to the survival of the Koala. The US government has declared the Koala a threatened species, however the Australian government has not. The IUCN lists the species as “Lower Risk / Near Threatened”.

Text from Wikipedia

Readers Comments