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Lactating females were found to consume more leaf material, masticate more per leaf and at a greater rate, and perform more ingestive and merycism mastications per 24 h than non-lactating females. Results suggest that female koalas are 'income breeders' that compensate for the higher energetic demands of lactation by increasing intake and, to a lesser degree, investing more in each mouthful so as to produce a shift in digesta particle size distribution in favor of more finer particles.
Compared to non-lactating females, lactating female koalas were also found to spend more time moving within trees, feeding per 24 h and per bout, and less time resting and sleeping per 24 h, although the proportion of active time spent feeding was similar (approx. 80%). This implies that female koalas adopt a 'time minimizing' strategy whereby activity budgets respond to current requirements.
