Sometimes people call koalas, koala bears. But they are not bears! Koalas are marsupials like kangaroos. This means they have babies that finish growing inside a pouch. 

Koalas are very solitary animals that spend 90% of their time sleeping. They live most of their lives high in the trees and are mostly active at night. They are not dangerous to people but can attack if they feel afraid.

Koalas have round heads, very large ears and big noses. People love their cute faces. 

They are not very big, just 23.5-33.5 inches (60 -85 cm) high. That's about the height of 4 pencils put together. They weigh about 20 lbs (9 kg).

Koala feet are very special. They have rough pads on their paws to help them hold onto branches. They also have two toes that act like thumbs. These two toes are opposite each other. This makes them excellent for holding onto things. They also have two toes that are stuck together which they use to brush their fur.

Of course, female koalas, being marsupials, also have a pouch on their tummies. These pouches are used to hold their babies which grow inside.

Koalas live for around 20 years.

thumb: the short, thick 'finger' on your hand

marsupials: animals whose babies are carried in a pouch to keep growing

pouch: pocket

Koala mums will have only 1 baby at a time. The babies are called joeys. 

They are very small! They are only the size of a jellybean and are without fur, without ears, and without the ability to see.

After they are born, joeys crawl into their mum's pouch. They stay there for 7 months and grow bigger. They drink milk. When they are about 6 months old, they will also drink pap from their mother. Pap helps their digestive system  so that later, they will be able to digest leaves.

After 7 months, they will leave the pouch and start to eat leaves with their mother but they will still drink milk until they are a year old.

pouch: a pocket

digestive system: the parts of your body that digest food (mouth, stomach, etc.)

digest: to break down food into smaller pieces