Koala Bears

Contrary to popular belief, the koala and the koala bear are not the same thing. Koalas, of course, are small marsupials that live in eucalyptus trees, eat eucalyptus leaves, and lick said trees for water. Koala bears, on the other hand, are crossbreeds between a koala and a drop bear. As such, they are vicious and bloodthirsty about half the time, and sluggish and stupid the other half. The confusion is further exacerbated by the koala’s scientific name, Phascolarctos cinereus, meaning “ash-colored pouch-bear” as well as the fact that koalas and koala bears are nearly identical when viewed from a distance, such to the point that early English colonists in Australia were unable to tell the two animals apart. ^[1]The main difference between the two animals, the foot structure, is obvious in the field with koalas having koala feet and koala bears having bear feet. This feature makes koala bears less adept at hanging onto trees than koalas. If a tree with koalas is shaken and one falls out, it will almost certainly be a koala bear. Additionally, koala bears will never wear shoes or any sort of footwear whereas koalas have occasionally been reported wearing various types of footwear, clogs being the most common. ^[2]