Koalas (Guided Practice)

The koala is born blind, hairless and without ears. After it is born, it uses its sense of smell and its strong claws to climb into its mother’s pouch. There it stays, getting bigger and more developed, for about seven months.

A baby koala lives in its mother’s pouch for:

• 3 months

• 6 months

• 7 months

Animals that spend the first months of their lives in their mother’s pouch (like kangaroos) are called marsupials. Also like a kangaroo, a baby koala is called a joey.

The koala is a __.

• kangaroo

• marsupial

• reptile

Koalas have thick, grey, wooly fur. This fur is like a coat that protects their skin from heat, cold and rain. People used to hunt koalas for their fur. But now they are a protected species. Koalas live in trees, and nap for up to 18 hours a day.

Why don't people hunt Koalas anymore?

• there are too many koalas

• it is against the law

• they are afraid of the koala bear

Koalas rarely drink water. The word koala may come from a word meaning “no drink”. Instead of drinking water, grown koalas eat eucalyptus leaves. They get their water from the moisture in the leaves. A diet of eucalyptus leaves make koalas smell like cough drops!

Koalas get water from __.

• streams

• leaves

• rain

Koalas are found only in Australia. Koalas in southern Australia are bigger (20 – 30 pounds) than koalas in northern Australia (13 – 16 pounds). Koalas live to be about ten years old. The females tend to live a year or two longer than the males.

Koalas are found only in __.

• jungles

• Australia

• trees