Koalas Are sometimes called bears, but this is the misnomer. Even though their scientific genus, Phascolarctos, interprets as "pouched bear", koalas aren't customers with the bear, or Ursidae relatives.thirteen Koalas are actually much more closely linked to kangaroos, bandicoots and possums than correct bears. Koalas are marsupial mammals, which suggests waiting for link from Article Directories (7)