Play the male koala bellow here.
Acoustic Communication in Koalas
Koala acoustic communication is being studied at the San Diego Zoo by Jennifer Tobey, a research coordinator in the Behavioral Biology Division of the San Diego Zoo's CRES, with a focus upon male vocalizations and how they relate to breeding success. Koalas have a few distinct calls, the most prominent being the bellow, which sounds a little like a person snoring. Both males and females bellow, but the frequency of these vocalizations is seen to increase markedly occurring during the breeding season. Female bellows appear to be estrus related while males will not only call singly but also participate in bellowing bouts that include multiple individuals.
Overall, CRES hopes to determine if call structure is related to endocrine level or male weight. Indeed, if some aspects of bellowing can be linked with differential mating success, playback procedures to increase the breeding success of specific females might be used. Also, playback in the field might be useful in evaluating population density because males respond to calls in a chorus.
More
Acoustic Communication in Dholes
Reproductive and Population Ecology of Koalas
Vocal and Scent Communication in Male Koalas
