How long do koalas live? How old is the oldest known koala?
In the wild in undamaged habitat, the average life span of a koala is about 10 years. However, where habitat is damaged, such as in suburban areas, they may only live for a few months or years because of the dangers from cars and dogs. Males tend to have a shorter life span than females because of the stresses of fights during the breeding season and the fact that they tend to move around more than females in search of mates, thus putting them in increased danger from dogs and cars. One of the reasons koalas don’t live a long time is because when their teeth get ground down from eating the tough eucalyptus leaves, they don’t grow back, so after a time, they can’t grind the leaves down properly and get enough nourishment from them. Because of the stresses associated with living in the wild, koalas in the wild can have a considerably shorter life span than koalas in zoos. Koalas in zoos and wildlife parks don’t have to travel any distance for food, they don’t have to face the same danger
