Are you searching for fun koala facts for kids to share with your primary classroom? Whether it’s for a lesson on Australian animal habitats or you’re teaching the importance of conservation with your students, koalas are an awesome (and super cute!) animal to talk about.
The teachers here at Teach Starter have done some digging and found a bunch of interesting facts about koalas for you to use in your lesson planning and answer your students’ burning questions, from ‘Where do koalas live?’ to ‘Are koalas endangered?’ and more! Read on to find out why koalas have four thumbs, how they digest poisonous leaves and why they have hard bottoms. Plus, we’ve compiled some of our teacher team’s favourite ways to use these interesting koala facts in your classroom!
Fun Koala Facts for Kids
1. Although they’re a national symbol, koalas are only found in eucalyptus forests and woodlands in Eastern Australia.
2. Koalas are one of the few animals to have fingerprints! Their fingerprints are almost identical to humans and help them to grip rough tree surfaces and heighten their sense of touch.
3. Did you know? Female koalas are only pregnant for around 35 days. In comparison, an elephant is pregnant for approximately 620 days!
4. Baby koalas, called ‘joeys,’ are born blind, hairless and without ears! Once they’re born, a peanut-sized joey must rely on their powerful sense of touch and smell to crawl into their mother’s pouch, where they stay for another six months to continue developing. When ready to leave the pouch, a joey will hitch on mum’s back for six months to learn critical survival skills such as foraging for food and avoiding predators.
5. So, what do koalas eat? Koalas primarily consume eucalyptus leaves and are fussy eaters (sound familiar?) as they only choose the tastiest and most nutritious leaves they can find.
6. Koalas vary in size and appearance depending on which part of Australia they come from! Typically, koalas found in Queensland are lighter in colour and more petite, weighing between 5 and 8 kg. Whereas koalas native to New South Wales, Victoria and some parts of South Australia are fluffier and bigger, ranging from 8 to 12 kgs.
7. Koalas love eucalyptus so much that they eat around 500 g of leaves daily. That’s about the same size as a small piece of lettuce!
8. Students beware! Eucalypt leaves are highly toxic to most animals, but koalas have a specialised digestive system that can break down harmful oils from nutrients. As koalas spend most of their days around eucalyptus and its strong smell, it is a natural repellent for insects like mosquitos.
9. Koalas can sleep for up to 20 hours a day! This is due to their low-energy diet.
10. Did you know koalas get most of their daily water intake (sometimes 50%!) from eucalypt leaves? Because of this, koalas seldom climb to the ground to source water.
11. The name ‘koala’ comes from a First Nations language. It is derived from the Dharug word ‘gula’ or ‘gulamany,’ meaning ‘no drink,’ as koalas don’t often need to drink.
12. Koalas are related to another common Australian animal: Wombats! Wombats and koalas share many traits, such as a backward-facing pouch that helps prevent baby joeys from getting injured when mum moves from tree to tree.
13. Koalas have a hard bottom. Yes, you read that right! This unique feature allows koalas to wedge between tree forks for long periods comfortably.
14. Ever heard the term ‘Drop Bear?’ In Aussie folklore, Drop Bears are koala-like creatures as big as a leopard and ‘drop’ on their prey. Thankfully, this is just a legend!
15. Although a typically slow-moving animal when on the ground, a koala can gallop up to 30 km per hour when disturbed or feel threatened.
16. Koalas have four thumbs! Their front paws have two thumbs on each, allowing them to grip smooth, paperbark trees and climb with their claws.
17. Ever heard a koala growl? Koalas are famous for making strange and sometimes unsettling noises. Male koalas produce deep, bellowing sounds that can be heard for kilometres. Yikes!
28. On average, koalas can live for 10 to 12 years. However, females can live up to 18 years!
19. Ever had a student come to and ask, ‘Is a koala is a bear?’ Koalas are often called ‘koala bears’ due to their fluffy teddy bear appearance. However, they are unrelated to the bear family. Koalas are really marsupials, a unique type of mammal with a pouch for newborns to develop.
20. If you’ve ever been asked, ‘How many koalas are left?’ or ‘Are koalas endangered?,’ we’ve got you covered. According to the Australian Koala Foundation, there are estimated to be less than 57 920 Koalas left in the wild, making koalas an endangered species. This is due to habitat destruction, bushfires, road accidents and domestic dog attacks. Teaching the next generation about koala conservation is essential.
How to Use Interesting Koala Facts in Your Classroom
- Conduct a Koala Habitat Study. After sharing facts about koala habitats, get your class to create dioramas of their habitats using recycled craft materials and present them to the class. You could take the lesson further by encouraging students to write a persuasive piece about why protecting koalas and their habitats is critical.
- Take a Koala Tracking Excursion. Take your class to a location such as a forest or a park known for koala populations so that kids can learn more about their habitats firsthand and spot a koala in the wild. You can even download a handy tool, such as QWildlife app by the Australian Government Department of Environment and Science, to record koalas spotted and directly help koala conservation in that area.
- Write Informative Essays About Koalas. Watch a koala cam with your students (the San Diego Zoo koala cam is free!), and challenge students to observe and note information about what they look like, where they live and their eating habits. Students can then use those notes to write an informative essay. This free research task organiser makes a great scaffold for this project!
- Adopt a Koala. While koalas can’t be kept as pets, we’re sure kids would love the idea of a koala hanging around the classroom! As a fun activity, you could encourage your students to write a persuasive speech or letter about why they should have a koala as a classroom pet. Many organisations, such as WWF and the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary, have koala adoption programs with the proceeds going towards helping save koalas in the wild, which would be a great school initiative for students to directly contribute to real change (and get updates on their adopted koala!).
- Explore Animal Body Coverings. Use the fact about koala bottoms to catch your students’ attention for a lesson on the body coverings of different types of animals. This free worksheet is perfect for year 1 students to sort out the different types of animals based on whether they have fur, scales, feathers or a shell.
Comments