When the breeding season begins, male koalas start yelling. But their verbal exchanges rarely escale into actual violence

Australia's favourite furry marsupial is a lover not a fighter.

Rather than shouting to start a fight, male koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus) shout to avoid them, and attract mates in the process.

 Dr Bill Ellis of the University of Queensland in Australia and his colleagues tracked a group of 21 koalas on St Bees Island, 30km off the coast of Queensland.

St Bees Island, Queensland, Australia (credit:Don Merwin).

Expecting breeding season battles between potential suitors, they instead found male koalas making loud, distinctive calls.

"We had thought that in the mating season male koalas would be fighting more, but instead found that the males bellowed to reduce physical confrontations with other males."

We still have a lot to learn about the world of koalas (credit: Dave Watts NPL).

Koalas mate between September and December. Other than that, not much is known about their mating system

Fighting in treetops can be deadly for the koala (credit: Jouan & Rius/NPL).

One possible explanation for the males' reluctance to fight lies in koalas' tree-dwelling lifestyle. As anyone who has tried it will know, brawling in trees can lead to falling out of trees, which can be fatal.

In 2013 it emerged that koalas use a unique vocal organ to make their odd-sounding bellows.