Koala bears, as a species, have long been identified as cute cuddly creatures, with countless plushie variations of their likeness found in countless toy stores and fair grounds.
The 2006 CGI-animated Disney movie The Wild, featured a koala as one of its main characters, one whose presence in the movie can be easily understood given how popular koala bears are.
Given their cuteness, questions related to the actual ownership of koala bears as pets have been asked by millions of children more than once. Much to their disappointment, however, the actual feasibility of owning a koala bear as a pet is not realistic for private home owners, but possible for research personnel and animal reservation sites.
Native to Australia, koala bears are creatures which cannot be owned as pets legally. Special permits which require certain prerequisites are required from wildlife centers and researchers, who can’t even indefinitely keep koalas with them throughout their respective life spans.
As animals, koalas are not like cats or dogs, in the sense that they can be readily domesticated. Being nocturnal, they’re not really as much fun as one would presume them to be, with koalas actually being notorious for being grouchy at certain occasions.
That plus their steady diet of eucalyptus leaves makes them quite troublesome to keep as pets for private homeowners, who need to keep a steady supply for koalas to consume. Dedicated wildlife centers have no qualms satisfying a koala bear’s particular needs and requirements in this sense though, which is a different story altogether.