Under pressure and on the run!

Today we visited the State Flora Nursery, next to Old Government House in Belair National Park

Walking up the pathway I heard this strange grunting noise, coming from a nearby gum tree. It was a male Koala wanting to mate. I could not see him but I could see what turned out to be a female koala, trying to get away from him. It is that time of year!

The female (who is pictured in my blip on a thick branch) climbed the gum and moved down to the end of the smallest possible branch that could hold her weight. She parked there and made strange whimpering noises. I could not get good shots of her in this position due to all of the leaves.

After a short time a very big male appeared and approached her, moving slowly down the branch, as things were hotting up. The branch at this stage was bending quite dangerously to the point that the two of them could have easily fallen 30 feet to the ground.

The big boy decided to back off and wait, further up on a more substantial branch. By this time, Paladian had completed her purchase at the nursery and we left the two koalas to their own privacy.

Holding under pressure.

In case you are interested in the mating habits of koalas, I have added a bit more info below:

The behavior of the female Koalas is confined on the yearly basis. Normally after every two years, the female Koalas are always ready to breed and give birth to the young ones. This is a normal interval for female Koalas to start breeding once again.

However, sometimes, this breeding process maybe prolonged to more than 2 or 3 years as well, while it can be shorter and within 1 year.

According to the findings of many Koala studies, it was specifically reported that the reason for some female Koalas to get ready for the mating earlier was the plentiful availability of food.

When the food was abundant, the female Koalas started mating earlier. Therefore, the female Koalas do possess a certain degree of mating behavior among the marsupial family of female mammals.