The koalas were so wrapped up in the kerfuffle that they didn’t notice the two curious dogs or Webster standing just a few feet away, filming them, SBS reports.
The video clearly shows the marsupial pugilists biting, clawing, and lunging in what looks like a pint-sized version of Wrestlemania. At one point, one of the brawling males flips the other koala onto its back and bites him and is met with a flurry of clawing and kicking.
Mind officially blown.
So, what was really going on here?
It’s spring in eastern and southern Australia and this is when the male koala is out looking for a quickie. Yes, this is when people can actually hear the males grunting and bellowing. Their bellows are so loud, in fact, that they can be heard for several kilometers away, ABC Science reports. Yes, koalas are, for the most part, cute sleepy creatures, but come mating time they get grouchy, aggressive and smelly–probably not a critter you’re going to want to keep in your living room.
Generally, most of this koala conversation is carried on around sunrise or sunset. However, since the males prowl around on the ground, they run into trouble if they live near an urban settlement, in the form of dogs or cars. At least 4,000 koalas are killed every year by cars or dogs, according to the Australian Koala Foundation.
Dwelling in trees, these pouched mammals are definitely territorial, with the larger individuals commanding a home range of many hectares. When spring comes along, the male patrols his trees looking for females who are ready to mate. And, for the males, the more females, the better, ABC Science reports.
When a dominant male koala spots an interloper in his territory, he tries to scare off the other male with a loud cry, a spine-chilling bellow that supposedly sounds something like water gurgling down a drain, accompanied by a log being hacked by a dull saw.
Should this fail to discourage the interloper, the dominant male gets ready to rumble–rushing up and grabbing his opponent, who usually climbs over to the other end of the branch or scurries down the tree. If the attacking koala gets a hold of his adversary, he throws an arm around said adversary’s shoulder. This is not a greeting, however. Instead, the dominant male bites him on the elbow, frequently leaving a nasty wound. There have even been cases of koalas being pulled right out of a tree by their adversary.
All this carrying on means that koalas need enough strength and experience, and as such, most males are lucky to get a mate before the age of four or five years old, even though they reach physical maturity when they are about 18 months old.
When Webster and his dogs happened on the koala kerfuffle, one dog was able to get up close and personal, Time.com reports.
“On my daily walk with the dogs when I unexpectedly got front row seats to a koala wrestling match,” he posted on YouTube. The koalas were so engrossed in battle they didn’t even notice one of the dogs getting a bit too close and giving one of them a quick sniff on the rump, The Daily Mail reports.
In one part of the video, the top koala pounced on top of the other and then leaped into the air, slamming down forcefully and grabbing his opponent in the middle section. Using their feet to navigate, they resort to clawing the dickens out of each other. Finally one koala comes out the clear winner, wrapping his arms around his opponent and biting him on the ear while holding onto his arms.
While the females usually aren’t as noisy as the males, they too can definitely vocalize and let out a snarl or scream if they feel threatened or are in the middle of sexual contact, ABC Science reports. For the most part, however, females murmur quietly and utter quiet clicks to their young one (called a joey), who responds by uttering its own tiny squeaks.
