Five Gross Facts About Koalas
Posted: November 26, 2015
Think koalas are cute? Think again. Here are five gross facts about koalas.
I’m Anna Rothschild, and this is Gross Science.
Number 1. Baby koalas, called joeys, eat their mothers’ poop. For the first six months or so after they’re born, they drink milk from a teat in their mom’s pouch. But then, for several weeks, they eat…fecal matter. The joey sticks its head out its mom’s pouch and nuzzles her butt. She releases some normal poop pellets, followed by a runnier, protein-rich substance, called pap. The pap helps the baby grow, and is full of the mom’s gut bacteria, which could help prepare the joey for its adult diet of eucalyptus leaves.
Number 2. Like many other marsupials, the penises of male koalas have two prongs. But, that’s nothing compared to the female, which has two vaginas and what’s called a vaginal cul-de-sac. Sperm travels up the vaginas on either side, and babies leave through the cul-de-sac, actually breaking through the bottom. After birth, the cul-de-sac heals.
Number 3. Males use a loud belching noise called a bellow for attracting mates and for other communication. A unique vocal organ at the back of their throats makes their calls extremely low. In fact, the koala’s bellow is about 20 times lower than it should be for an animal of its size.
Number 4. A mature male koala has a scent gland on his chest, which oozes dark, smelly gunk that he rubs on trees. No one’s entirely sure what the gunk’s for, but it could be to signal that he’s ready to mate, or to mark his territory. Koalas aren’t known to be super territorial, but that’s not always the case…
Number 5. Wild koalas in Australia face some major threats, like habitat destruction, brushfires, an HIV-like virus that suppresses their immune system, and even chlamydia. The strains that infect koalas are different from the sexually transmitted disease we get. But koala chlamydia also spreads through mating, and mothers can transmit it to their joeys. It can make the animals blind, incontinent, infertile, and even kill them. And it’s pretty prevalent—in some places up to 90% of the koala population has been infected.
Now, it’s not clear exactly how critical koalas are to maintaining stability in the ecosystem. But personally, I don’t want to risk it. We simply don’t know what losing these guys to disease or habitat disruption could mean for eucalyptus forests. And besides, koalas are deeply important cultural icons—think about it, they’re basically synonymous with “Australia”…along with kangaroos and vegemite. So, no matter how strange these animals are, I for one wanna save them.
I guess you’re still kinda cute. Ew.
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