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The koala
forms part of the Phascolarctidae family. The Phascolarctidae
make part of the marsupial family of the order Diprotodontia
which has as only extant species the koala. The Koala is native
from Australia mainly found along the eastern coast, from
Adelaide to the south part of Cape York Peninsula. There are no
koalas in Tasmania or in Western Australia. The Koala is often
called the Koala Bear, may be because the first European
settlers called the koala the Native Bear. But Koalas do not
make part of the bear family. The scientific name for the
koala, phascolarctos cinereus, comes from the Greek, phaskolos
which means “pouch”, arktos which means “bear” and cinereus
which is Latin meaning “ash-coloured”. They feed themselves
mostly with eucalyptus leaves. In Australia there are a large
number of Eucalyptus trees. Most of Eucalyptus trees are native
from Australia, there are over 700 species. Some Eucalyptus
species can be found in some part of Indonesia, New Guinea and
Philippines. They are often known as Gum Tree, other species are
stringybark, ironbark, ash and mallee. |
