Stock Photo - The koala is an Australian arboreal marsupial and the only extant species in the family Phascolarctidae. It has previously been called marsupial bear and koala bear, misleading because they are unrelated to bears. The koala population is declining, and from the year 2022, the IUCN categorizes the species as endangered. . Many animals died during the extensive fires. . Organizations that specifically work with the protection of the koala believe that the reduction is so great that it should be categorized as functional extinction. . Koalas eat almost exclusively the leaves of various species of eucalyptus trees, and sometimes some exotic species such as mistletoe and Tristania trees (genus Tristaniopsis), but they prefer certain tree species that vary between different areas. Of the approximately 350 species of eucalyptus trees, all but 20 are poisonous to koalas. They can also eat shoots and bark from these trees.