Koalas usually
only have one cub per year. Older females will usually have one every
two years.
Koala babies are known by several names - "pouch young","back
young","joeys" and "cubs".
When koalas are born they are only 2 centimeters long, which is about
the same as a jellybean!
Koalas
in the forest live a solitary life, with their population
well spread out.
Breeding
occurs in summer, most mature females produce only one young
each year.
This may
weigh less than half a kilogram at birth and will remain in
the pouch for seven months.
After
leaving the pouch, the koalas feed on a mixed diet of milk
and leaves, grow fast and travel clinging to their mother's
back.
|
|
They are not fully
weaned until they are 12 months old. There is little reliable information
about the
lifespan of koalas. However, in captivity they have been observed
to reach the age of 15 years.
The
koala weighs 15 to 30 pounds. One cub is born at a time. The koala
cub stays in the mother's pouch for 5 months.
The koala cub is blind when it's just born. Koalas breed in the summer.
Koalas live for 20 or more years.
The koala can run as fast as a rabbit. The koalas sleep for up to
19 hours.
The koala joey
rides in its mothers backward-facing pouch for about 5 to 6 months,
and drinks milk from its mother's nipple.
After that it rides on its mother's back until it leaves home to take
care of itself at about 1 year old.
An adult koala eats about 1/2 to 1 kilogram of leaves each night,
but the nutrition they get from these leaves is poor.
This leaves them with little energy, so they spend most of their lives
sleeping.
