Melbourne Chat

Koalas not so cute - Spring time love



Spring time in eastern and southern Australia is the time to keep an ear out for the scarey sounds of male koalas looking for a mate. Koalas might seem like docile, lazy animals but during the mating season they become noisy, aggressive and not so cuddly.



You are most likely to hear a grumpy male koala in the morning or evening. Here is an MP3 recording of the mating call of a male koala:



[url="http://www.abc.net.au/science/scribblygum/sound/koalagrunt.mp3"]http://www.abc.net.au/science/scribblygum/.../koalagrunt.mp3[/url]



The female koalas tend to make a high pitched trembling sound.



In spring, male koalas will be on the lookout for females who are ready to mate and will quite happily mate with lots of lady koalas. Often, young male koalas will be driven off by older males. To survive, they need to find a suitable area which is not overun by other dominant males.



After mating occurs, it only takes about 35 days for the baby (joey) koala to be born. The mother has a pouch where the joey koala can grow and stay safe.



The Koala joey remains in the mother's pouch for 7 months. When the joey is 1 year old it will no longer live in the pouch. By the age of 2 years old (sometimes sooner), the Koala joey will be fully independent. Koala's live for about 12 years in the wild.



Further reading:



[url="http://www.abc.net.au/science/scribblygum/october2006/"]http://www.abc.net.au/science/scribblygum/october2006/[/url]

[url="http://www.arazpa.org.au/Education_FactSheets_Koala.htm"]http://www.arazpa.org.au/Education_FactSheets_Koala.htm[/url]

[url="http://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/npws.nsf/Content/The+koala"]http://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/npws.n...ntent/The+koala[/url]

i had no idea you call a baby koala a joey. i thought that was a kangaroo thing <img src='http://www.melbournechat.org/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />

those male koalas sound very angry! would think that groaning would have to scare off the lady koalas!

yeah i don't want to hug a koala anymore <img src='http://www.melbournechat.org/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />

i never see them anyway. i have only seen like 2 koalas in my whole life. i guess i don't spend enough time looking at trees <img src='http://www.melbournechat.org/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />

Yeah i'm not surprised the female koalas make a trembling sound, they're probably terrified!



Marco, are they not that common then? The typical view we get of Australia is koalas everywhere.

a baby koala is a joey? Odd... I didn't know that.

[quote name='bex' post='2502' date='Feb 12 2007, 12:32 AM']Yeah i'm not surprised the female koalas make a trembling sound, they're probably terrified!



Marco, are they not that common then? The typical view we get of Australia is koalas everywhere.[/quote]



Hi bex, Koalas are common in some areas but they don't move much and most people just don't see them because they sit high up in the trees lazing around. I personally am like marco - I have only seen a couple of koalas in the wild. there is supposed to be a lot on kangaroo island is south australia! i will need to go there one day!



[quote name='Wabuf' post='2509' date='Feb 12 2007, 02:37 PM']a baby koala is a joey? Odd... I didn't know that.[/quote]



hi wabuf - welcome to melbourne chat, cheers, glen <img src='http://www.melbournechat.org/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />

I don't think they do this anymore, but one of the wildlife parks outside of Sydney used to let you hold a Koala on your lap (with plenty of padding between you and the Koala, because apparently they have giant claws).



That was one of the best things I did in Oz, because it was so surprising - the Koala smelled exactly like a menthol cough drop. I was not expecting that.



(Wasn't expecting that noise to come out of a Koala, either!)

lucky you survived the holding of the koala! i would not go close to one. i rather hold a wombat or an echidna! <img src='http://www.melbournechat.org/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />