koalas are often called koala bears this is inaccurate as koalas are not bears rather they are marsupials many believe that the common usage of koala be startled when Europeans first came to Australia they thought that koalas look like bears so they were often called koala bears this confusion may have been led to a misleading family name vascular today Vasko meaning pouch or bag and learnt from the Greek word arctos means bear on a sad note koalas the only extant representative of the family fascicle up today all other family members from the aid of the genesis are now extinct and koalas are the only lone family member this is even more reason to protect and cherish the koalas the koala gestation period lasts just 33 to 35 days after which time the female gives birth to a Joey although twins can occur on occasion the young Joey's are born while at the embryonic stage weighing only half a gram the Joey
keeps developing inside the pouch and emerges at around 6 to 7 months of age and by this time is around 300 to 500 grams at around 9 months of age the Joey tries to grasp it branches and leaves its mother's back over the next few months the Joey spends more and more time away from its mother and at around 12 months of age it is fully weaned koalas typically inhabit open eucalypt woodlands and the leaves of these trees make up most of their diet because the eucalypt I has limited nutritional and calorie content koalas are largely sedentary and sleep up to 20 hours a day koalas have cheek pouches which are able to store food before it's ready to be chewed and consumed Charles Darwin suggested that the appendix may have been used for digesting leaves when we were primates this theory is supported by various obivious animals including the Koala whose appendix helps digest leaves by harboring bacteria that helps break down the cellulose and leaves adult males communicate with loud bellows this low pitch sounds consists of snore like inhalations and resident exhalation that sound like growls ah these sounds are thought to be generated by unique vocal organs found in koalas because of their low frequency these bellows can travel far through air and vegetation koalas bellow during the breeding season when it serves to attract females and possibly intimidate other males they also bellow to advertise their presence to other neighbors when they enter a new tree these sounds signal the male's actual body size and females pay attention to the bellows that originate from larger males koalas have five digits on each front paw tool which are opposed to the others much like a thumbs are able to be moved differently from the fingers this helps them to hold firmly onto branches and to grip their food
the second and third digits on their hind paws are fused together to form a grooming claw a mature male has a dark scent gland in the center of his white chest which exudes a dark sticky substance he rubs this on his trees to indicate to other koalas that this is his territory the Koala was heavily hunted by European settlers in the early 20th century largely for his thick and soft fur during this time millions of koalas were killed and more than 2 million pelts are estimated to have left Australia by 1924 pelts were a demand for use of rugs coat linings muffs and as trimmings on women's garments the public outcry over these colleagues was probably the first wide-scale environmental issue that rallied Australians together despite the growing movement to protect native species the poverty brought about by the drought of 1926 to 1928 led to the killing of another 600,000 koalas during a one month open season in August 1927 in 1934 Frederick Lewis the chief inspector of game in Victoria said that the once
abundant animal had been brought to near extinction in that state suggesting that only 500 to a thousand remained since then the conservation efforts have lifted the population of koalas around Australia if you got this far the video I want to personally thank you for watching the entire video if you enjoyed those facts about koalas please leave a like and share this video with your friends if you have a video suggestion do let me know in the comment section below if you want to be kept up to date with content as I release it be sure to subscribe and feel free to watch previous videos thanks for watching