Koalas are marsupial mammals, which means that their young are born immature and that they develop further in the safety of a pouch, like kangaroos. They can grow to between 60 and 85 centimeters, or 24 and 33 inches, in length. They can weigh about 14 kilograms, or 31 pounds. Find out more!

1. Wild koalas can live between 12 and 14 years. Captive koalas can live between 16 and 20 years, due to better living conditions.

2. They almost never need to drink water as they get all of their water from the leaves the eat. When the food is scarce, they’ll drink water from streams and lakes.

3. They’re nocturnal, which means that they’re mostly active during the night. During the day, they sleep while being tucked into forks or nooks in trees. They’re known to sleep between 18 and 20 hours per day.

4. Koalas use several types of noises to communicate with each other. They usually rag and sometimes they sound like they’re snoring.

5. They have a scent gland on their chest that they rub against trees to mark their territory.

6. Eucalyptus is poisonous to most animals, but the koala’s digestive system creates a bacteria that redners the poison useless.

7. Like humans, koalas have fingerprints. They are the only other mammals, besides primates, to have them.

8. The brain size of modern koalas has reduced substantially from their ancestors, probably as an adaption to the low energy they get from their diets.

9. Because of their resemblance to bears, it was often miscalled the koala bear, particularly by early settlers.

10. They have large noses that are either black or pink.