About Baby Koalas
Koalas are native to the Australian continent, and though they are often referred to as koala bears, they are most closely related to the wombat. They are tree-climbing marsupials, and they bear young known as joeys. Learning more about koala babies is a good way to learn about the life of the koala in general.
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Parents
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Male koalas are sexually mature between the ages of 3 and 4 years, while female koalas mature earlier and can breed when they are between 2 and 3 years of age. A female koala can produce one joey every year after she matures if she is healthy and if food is abundant.
At Birth
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When the koala baby is born, it is earless, blind and completely naked. At this point, it is less than an inch long, and weighs around .035 oz. After it is born, it will crawl up the mother's body and find its way into the mother's downward-facing pouch. For six months, the joey will remain in the pouch. At the beginning, it will latch on to one of its mother's two teats. The teat enlarges in the joey's mouth, preventing it from becoming dislodged.
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Pap
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After the baby koala emerges from the mother's pouch at the age of 6 months, it starts to consume a diet that is mostly made of its mother's pap. Pap is a specialized form of droppings that are produced by the mother. Pap is soft and runny, and contains micro-organisms that are passed from mother to joey. This prepares the koala baby to digest the leaves that it will eat as an adult.
Weaning
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The baby koala will be able to eat leaves at the age of 12 months, but it may continue to nurse even after it has started eating leaves. Because the baby can no longer fit inside the pouch, the mother koala's teats will elongate so that her offspring can nurse.
Considerations
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After the joey leaves the pouch at the age of 6 months, it will cling to its mother's chest or back. At this point, the baby koala weighs 1 lb. The mother will carry it easily, and as the mother feeds on eucalyptus leaves, the baby will learn to eat solid food as well. At the age of 1 year old, the baby koala is ready to be independent of its mother, and it will weigh 5.5 lbs. However, it will stay with its mother if the mother does not produce another joey. A joey that can stay with its mother for more than one year has a better chance of survival, as the mother will continue to care for it.
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References
- Photo Credit koala image by 2roxfox from Fotolia.com
