How does the koala look after and feed its young?

Answer 1

Koalas breed between August and February. 35 days after conception, the tiny, blind, hairless embryo emerges and moves into its mother's pouch, purely by instinct. At this stage it weighs about half a gram. Once in the mother's pouch, it then latches onto a teat, which swells in its mouth, securing it firmly so it does not fall out of the pouch. The koala baby, called a joey, feeds only on mothers' milk for 6-7 months.

To make the transition from mothers' milk to eucalyptus leaves, at about 6-7 months the joey begins to feed on "pap", which is actually a special form of the mother's droppings through which she can pass onto her joey the micro organisms which allow for digestion of eucalyptus leaves. No other animal lives solely on gum leaves, and special proteins are needed to digest them. One of the reasons the koala has a backward-opening pouch is so that the joey can stick its head out and feed on this pap which comes from the mother's own digestive system.

When the joey grows too large to fit in its mother's pouch, it still feeds a bit on mother's milk, lying on her stomach to feed, and spending the rest of its time firmly attached to her back. It only leaves "home" when the next breeding season starts.