Tiny embryonic joey the size of a jelly bean is born after 35 day pregnancy. This crawls up and into the pouch to feed on milk through a teat for 6 months. Mist's joey here will come out of the pouch any day now.
@koalagardens You mentioned before that they are rather ungainly on the ground so when they take off elsewhere, do they pass from tree to tree or a mixture of the two?
@vignouse great question :) once upon a time they moved mostly from tree to tree. now with so little habitat they are forced to move across the ground as true forests are rare. this is when they are at most risk for sure.
if they can move tree to tree they always choose to - they can jump several metres from branch to branch easily (wonderful sight to see, but not common as they sleep so much of the time)
I'd forgotten that's how it works with koalas - it brought me back to my project on Australian wild life when I was a youngster. Lovely information and image.
@jamibann I think that growing up in Brisbane, near Lone Pine to boot, and being passionate about animals, marsupial biology has just always been in my understanding - I also remember those projects in school!
Yet when you think about it, it's totally amazing that those tiny jelly beans crawl up and take hold. Nature is amazing alright.
if they can move tree to tree they always choose to - they can jump several metres from branch to branch easily (wonderful sight to see, but not common as they sleep so much of the time)
Yet when you think about it, it's totally amazing that those tiny jelly beans crawl up and take hold. Nature is amazing alright.