Koala Research
Meet ... Matilda (and her baby)
Bushfire update 6 February 2006 We hadn't seen Matilda for some time which is no surprise as she does move around. Hopefully she is in an excellent home a long way from the burnt area. We will continue to watch for her.
This little darling moves in and out of our study area, so we see her sometimes, and then miss her for a while, before she appears suddenly again!
She has lovely fluffy ears with long white tufts and looks quite young. She often seems nervous, but she wears a kind of smirk on her face, like she is secretly laughing at us (actually, I think koalas are often giggling at us - especially when we walk around under their tree and don't see them! Often, after intense searching and walking around, we've looked up to see a koala right above us, and they definitely have a twinkle in their eye!)
Matilda's features remind us of Ingrid. Koalas, like humans, pass on some of their looks to their babies, and the daughters of a mother will stay around her home. So in an area many female koalas will have the same appearance. In our study area we have two main "looks" - the Ingrid look (tall, big ears, deep set eyes) and the Wilma look (tiny face, small ears, deep furrow across brow). Most of the girls in our area look like Wilma, but a few are like Ingrid, especially to the east. Matilda may be Ingrid's sister or cousin.
I have records of Matilda from May 2004, but I suspect she's been around much longer than that. She is officially Matilda 2, as we had a Matilda once before, in our first Koala Study in another part of the Brisbane Ranges. It is such a good Aussie name though, so when Bob and his party suggested it, in March 2005, we went for it!
Matilda is enjoying the closeness and protecting her joey from the wind
and the uninvited guests. This is a common pose for mother and baby
when resting. Koala babies also travel on their mothers backs.
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