Hugging trees helps koalas to keep cool, a study has revealed.

In a study published in the Royal Society journal Biology letters, scientists used thermal cameras to reveal that in hotter weather the animals moved to the lower, cooler parts of the trees.

They also pressed their bodies even closer to the tree trunks.

Here Dr Michael Kearney from the University of Melbourne explains how the koalas hug trees to regulate their temperature.

Still images courtesy of N Briscoe, S Griffiths and K Handasyde