Bitter Vetch vs koala

Vicia ervilia compared with Phascolarctos cinereus

Key Differences

Bitter Vetch is Not Evaluated while koala is Vulnerable.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Bitter Vetch	koala
Kingdom	Plantae (Plants)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)	Chordata (Chordates)
Class	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)	Mammalia (Mammals)
Order	Fabales (Legumes & Allies)	Diprotodontia (Marsupials)
Family	Fabaceae	Phascolarctidae (Koalas)
Genus	Vicia	Phascolarctos (Koalas)
Species	Vicia ervilia	Phascolarctos cinereus

Conservation Status

Bitter Vetch

NE — Not Evaluated

koala

VU — Vulnerable

Population: ~100.0K

Trend: Decreasing ↓

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Bitter Vetch	koala
Diet	—	Herbivore
Average Lifespan	—	15 years
Average Length	—	75 cm
Average Weight	—	10.0 kg

Habitat & Geographic Range

Bitter Vetch

Habitat

Typically found in diverse terrestrial habitats from tropical forests to temperate regions.

Range

Found across Asia (Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan) and Europe (24 countries).

koala

Habitat

Typically found in grasslands, forests, and vegetated habitats.

Range

Found in Australia. Currently classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, this species faces significant conservation challenges across its range.

Bitter Vetch

The Bitter Vetch (Vicia ervilia) is a species in the genus Vicia. Typically found in diverse terrestrial habitats from tropical forests to temperate regions.

Iconic marsupial of eastern and southeastern Australia, koalas weigh up to 15 kg and spend up to 22 hours daily sleeping to conserve energy from their low-calorie eucalyptus leaf diet. Highly specialized to process toxic eucalyptus compounds that would kill most other mammals, they have gut microbiomes uniquely adapted for detoxification. Listed as Endangered in 2022, with populations decimated by chlamydia disease, habitat clearing, and climate change.