The three subspecies have different adaptations to their environment due to where they live. A Koalas diet is very low in nutrition, highly toxic and very fibrous and they rarely drink water. In order to survive in their different environments, which have severely different climates, they have specific adaptations, the main ones being color, size and the length of their fur.
NORTHERN KOALA
The Northern Koala comes from sunny Queensland and in order to not overheat and dehydrate, their fur is a light shade of grey and is quite short compared to the other subspecies. They also have less fur on their ears to aid with heat loss. The smaller size also helps reduce the surface area to volume ratio so they loose body heat more readily.
SOUTHERN KOALA
Comes from the colder areas of Victoria and South Australia, so they are a very dark shade of grey. This helps with heat absorption and will heat up at twice the rate of their Northern counterparts. They have very thick long fur which is nearly three time the length of the Northern Koala, and big bushy ears to stop heat loss. They are nearly twice the size of the Northern Koala. The larger size helps reduce the surface area to volume ratio, so they do not loose heat as readily. This can be a problem, especially in summer when it gets quite hot. To overcome the excessive heat and reduce the risk of dehydration, they will seek shade, climb down lower in the trees, sit on the ground or expose their white chest, which is very reflective to the sun or expose it to a nice breeze in the trees.
CENTRAL KOALA
Found around New South Wales. This is halfway between Victoria and Queensland, so they have adaptations in between. It is not as cold as Victoria, but it is not as warm as Queensland. Their fur is an intermediate shade of grey, their ears are less fluffy than the Southern Koala, but more fluffy than the Northern Koala, and they are in the middle of the weight range.
Common Name | Southern Koala | Northern Koala | Central Koala |
Scientific Name | Phascolarctos cinereus victor | Phascolarctos cinereus adustus | Phascolarctos cinereus cinereus |
Range | Victoria and South Australia | Queensland | New South Wales |
Status | Common | Common | Common |
Head/ body length | 782mm (M) 716mm (F) | 705mm (M) 687mm (F) | 743mm (M) 701mm (F) |
Weight | 12.0kg (M) 8.5kg (F) | 6.5kg (M) 5.1kg (F) | 9.3kg (M) 6.8kg (F) |
