Have you ever heard someone refer to a koala as a "koala bear?" Well, like bears they are mammals, and they have round, fuzzy ears and look cute and cuddly, like a teddy bear. But koalas are not bears. They are members of a group of pouched animals called marsupials. Marsupials include kangaroos,wallabies,wallaroos, wombats, possums, and opossums. Many kinds of marsupials are native to Australia. Koalas look soft but their fur actually feels like the wool on a sheep. They also seem cuddly, but they are wild animals and don't make good pets.

A koala, like other marsupials, begins life in a very unusual way. When it is born, it is only about the size of a large jelly bean and is not yet fully developed. In fact, a newborn koala, called a joey, can't even see or hear, but it sure can climb! Soon after the joey is born, it uses strong forelimbs and hands to crawl from the birth canal into its mother's pouch. In this warm, safe place the joey attaches to one of two nipples, drinks milk, and grows during the next six months. Even after it starts leaving the pouch, a joey will return to the pouch when it wants to hide or sleep. Sometimes it will ride on its mother's belly. After it grows too large for the pouch, the joey climbs onto its mother's back and holds on with strong hands and feet. After about a year, it can live alone in the trees.

To help it climb, a koala has special hands and feet, both of which have claws. A koala has two thumbs on its hands, and the ridged skin on the bottom of its feet gives it traction for climbing. Strong arm and shoulder muscles help a koala climb 150 feet (46 meters) to the top of a tree, and enable it to leap from treetop to treetop.