Koalas as Endangered Species: Australia

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• Australia has listed the koala as an endangered species across most of its east coast, after a dramatic decline in numbers.

• The population of Koalas is declining dramatically across the country because of habitat loss, the impact of prolonged drought, black summer bushfires, Urbanisation, and cumulative impacts of disease.

• Koala is an arboreal (lives in trees) marsupial.

• A marsupial is born in a very incomplete state. They are minute, hairless and with hind limbs only partially formed.

• Koalas are endemic to Australia.

Interesting Fact   

• Due to the low nutritional value of eucalyptus leaves they eat, koalas tend to sleep for extended periods, often up to 18 hours a day, to conserve energy.