Are koalas bears?

Koalas aren't bears many people are led to believe. They aren't even related to bears. The koala is related to the kangaroo and the wombat. The koala is a marsupial mammal. The reason the koala is called a koala bear is because the koala looks like a teddy bear. The koala's scientific name is Phasclarctos Cinereus. read more

The koala (Phascolarctos cinereus, or, inaccurately, koala bear) is an arboreal herbivorous marsupial native to Australia. It is the only extant representative of the family Phascolarctidae and its closest living relatives are the wombats. read more

Three subspecies of koala have been described, though many biologists believe these distinctions are arbitrary and invalid, so all koalas currently fall under cinerus. Koalas are more closely related to kangaroos and wombats, which are both members of Diprotodontia, than bears, which belong to the order Carnivora. read more