Breeding season is the period of time when animals mate and for koalas in the Northern Rivers it runs from July through to December – the spring and summer months. Koala activity increases as they move about trying to find a mate and later on when younger koalas disperse (leave their mum to find their own home range). It is a very risky time for koalas.
Koala diet and habitat
As most of you know, koalas are specialist folivores who feed on koala food trees consisting mostly of eucalyptus leaves and some secondary browse trees and flowers – such as the melaleuca plant.
They also live in eucalypt trees in what is called koala habitat and travel between trees by walking on the ground. This makes them vulnerable to car hits. Read more about that here.
Within koala habitat, koalas live in their own home range, these home ranges vary in size and can be anything from around five hectares up to around thirty hectares for dominant males. Home ranges can overlap and are generally occupied by a dominant male koala and several female koalas. During peak season however, home ranges might have some unfamiliar visitors attempting to mate.
Both male and female koalas increase movement throughout breeding season, however males are generally on the move more in search of a mate or dispersing to find their own home range – which could be up to several kilometres away. The distance that koalas travel is influenced by koala population size and the quality of habitat.
Koalas are fussy eaters preferring the best quality leaf with the highest density of nutrients. Even though they eat between 500 and 1kg of eucalyptus leaves per day, they only choose from a relatively small number of Eucalypt species. The koalas here in the Northern Rivers, Forest Red Gum (Eucalyptus tereticornis), Tallowwood (Eucalyptus microcorys) and Swamp Mahogany (Eucalyptus robusta) are the primary food trees for our koalas.
Generally speaking, koalas are solitary animals and usually do not share trees and food. Male koalas are territorial especially during breeding season. We know that koala habitat has been negatively affected by urban development, which also impacts home ranges and how far koalas travel for food and to mate. Oftentimes, koalas must navigate roads, highways and properties to move between trees in their home range.
Friends of the Koala undertake koala habitat restoration projects throughout the Northern Rivers which is funded by a wide range of partners and donors supporting key koala populations. Read more about our habitat restoration here.
Koala activity
Koalas are most active after dark and before dawn, however, most people don’t realise, they can move and cross the road at any time during the day. They also sleep a lot – between eighteen and twenty-two hours out of twenty-four!
Koalas, as we have mentioned are a tree-dwelling marsupial so most of the time while they sleep they’re high up in the trees and tricky to spot. If you are lucky enough to see a koala, depending on the weather you might see it spread out against the branch, hugging the branch or curled up in a ball. If koalas are not sleeping they’re eating and then the small amount of time that is left is probably spent travelling or mating.
Male koalas are typically bigger than female koalas with a noticeably larger head and nose. Adult male koalas also have a large scent gland in the centre of their chest and an adult female koalas have a backwards facing pouch to carry their joey in.
Male koalas rub their scent gland on trees in their home ranges, marking the area to let others know he is there. The gland produces a strong smelling oil that produces a dark stain on his chest. Both male and female koalas use urine and scat (faeces) to mark trees too. Fun fact – koalas can poop up to 360 scat pellets per day – even when sleeping!
Young males can breed from about eighteen months of age, however because of their physical size they don’t usually mate until they are about four or five. Females reach maturity by two years of age and generally give birth once per year for ten to fifteen years or more – as was the case of Wendy the koala.
Fun fact – did you know that female koalas have three vaginas and they only ovulate after sex – they are induced ovulators (meaning she ovulates in response to mating) and male koalas have forked penises with two heads? They are quite pink and quite large!
If you enjoyed reading this article you might enjoy reading more fun facts about koalas and their habitat:
