Koalas Will often be called bears, but this is the misnomer. While their scientific genus, Phascolarctos, translates as "pouched bear", koalas are not associates on the bear, or Ursidae family.thirteen Koalas are actually a lot more closely related to kangaroos, bandicoots and possums than true bears. Koalas are marsupial mammals, waiting for link from Article Directories (10)