
%0 Journal Article
%A Smith, M 
%T Behaviour of the Koala, Phascolarctos cinereus (Goldfuss), in Captivity IV.* Scent-Marking
%J Wildlife Research
%D 1980/02/01
%V 7
%N 1
%P 35-40
%K 
%R https://doi.org/10.1071/WR9800035
%U https://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/WR9800035 
%X Male koalas scent-mark by grasping a vertical object, generally a tree, and rubbing the sternal gland against it. The behaviour first appears at 3 y of age, and reaches a peak a year or two later.  It is frequently performed in conjunction with bellowing, especially in response to agonistic encounters or the bellow of a rival male, and often by itself in circumstances where a bellow might be expected.  It is sometimes a response to unfamiliar surroundings or objects, and otherwise is performed by a male moving about a pen. Scent-marking may primarily be a response to unfamiliarity which, having become associated with displaced aggression, has been entrained to the bellowing drive. 
