Cute, cuddly Australian native animals are much loved across the globe, but their private mating behaviours can be extremely wild.

There are two equally important sides to the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary on the Gold Coast — the educational public park, and the vital breeding and repopulation programs.

While tourists from across the globe flock to have a photo with a koala or a lorikeet, they may not be aware of the fascinating behaviours going on behind the scenes.

Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary mammal supervisor Sarah Eccleston gets up close and personal with native wildlife every day.

She has accrued quite an interesting resume being around native Australian wildlife at their most intimate moments.

"Some of the things I've witnessed and some of the things I've had to do over the years," she said with a laugh.

"But that's the joy of this job, is that every day is a learning curve in all sorts of ways, including love."

Koalas, the universe and everything

While cute and cuddly, koalas have some unusual and loud mating behaviours. ( ABC Gold Coast: Damien Larkins )

Fans of The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy may be familiar with the number 42 as the answer to the question of life, the universe and everything.

But for koala breeding experts, it has an entirely different meaning.

"[A male koala] will actually thrust exactly 42 times before he ejaculates," Ms Eccleston said.

"Every single time."

The habit makes it easier for handlers to intervene and collect samples.

"Exactly on that 42 thrusts there is a slowdown and that's when there is a positive release," she said.

"That's how we confirm that we've had a perfect mating by that counting and that last little final hurrah, so to speak."

Mating not a quiet process

While koalas are usually fairly quiet creatures, the mating process is a cacophony of noise.

Male koalas will elicit an unusual bellow to attract a female mate.

"That noise is really deep. It sounds like a cross between a burp and a bit of a belly grunt," Ms Eccleston said.

"It sounds like a really sad orchestra that's failing."

The other females present will screech their disapproval of what they are witnessing.

"If there are other koalas around there's quite a lot of ruckus because they're all rejecting his advances," she said.

Even koalas need a helping hand

The Currumbin Sanctuary koala breeding program uses a range of specially-made artificial insemination equipment. ( ABC Gold Coast: Damien Larkins )

Sometimes nature has a little bit of trouble taking its course and koalas need a helping hand.

The breeding program handlers have a box of custom-built equipment designed to aid the process.

Among them is a glass rod with small protuberances at one end, specially made to stimulate ovulation in the females.

"It was quite an interesting thing to have a glass blower produce for us," Ms Eccleston said.

"This is a tool that we can use to help the wild populations in the future as well, so really important stuff."

Another unusual hand-made device is used collect semen from the males.

It is a three-inch long tube of PVC pipe about an inch wide, with a valve at the top and a soft rubber interior.

"The first modification on this little design was a cricket bat handle, the rubber grip of a cricket bat handle," Ms Eccleston said.

"We fill it with water to a perfect temperature that you would find inside a female koala."

A glass vial is used to collect the semen, which is then introduced through a specially designed catheter.

"The male doesn't realise that we've just gone and done … a bit of a switcheroo," she said.

Echidnas getting right to the point

Breeding echidna Ejack has been given soft toys to stop him injuring himself trying to mate with rocks and boxes. ( ABC Gold Coast: Damien Larkins )

Echidna mating is generally quite unusual — the males have a four-headed penis and several males will follow females in a train when she ready to breed.

One male echidna in particular at Currumbin has distinguished himself as the program's top breeder.

However, in his constant enthusiasm to mate, he often injures himself on inanimate objects inside his enclosure.

"He has a particularly high sex-drive," Ms Eccleston said.

"He'll take any object that may be in his path to make it his own."

Handlers have to provide him with some soft toys as a distraction to deter him from hurting himself on rocks, boxes and other males.

"At the moment his favourite thing in the whole world is a cockatoo hand puppet," she said.

"That gets put through the wash quite regularly."

The short, rewarding life of the phascogale

The phascogale is known to live fast and die young in the pursuit of reproduction. ( Supplied: Leon Rakai )

The males in one particular native mammal species live to reproduce.

The brush-tailed phascogale is a relative of the Tasmanian devil.

The males try to breed as soon as they are old enough and once they mate, they die.

"They're here for a good time, not a long time," Ms Eccleston said.

"They end things on a good note. After a season of phascogales, at the end all you'll have left is pregnant females. All the males will have died."

It takes cockatoos to tango

The glossy black cockatoo lives up to 80 years and mates for life ( Flickr: David Cook )

Australian wildlife mating is not all rough animal behaviour; some natives also display a range of gentler traits.

The vulnerable species the black glossy cockatoo pairs for life, which can be up to 80 years.

"During that time they will stay monogamous to one another," Ms Eccleston said.

"If a partner dies they will actually be quite mournful."

The gentle smile of a crocodile

Female saltwater crocodiles will gently carry their young in their sharp teeth. ( ABC Gold Coast: Damien Larkins )

While the Australian saltwater crocodile may look rough on the outside, unlike many other reptiles the females are incredibly gentle and attentive mothers.

A female crocodile will guard her eggs in the mound until they hatch and then help them out of the nest.

"They'll really gently allow them to climb into their mouth and take them down to the water," Ms Eccleston said.

"Imagine that, climbing into a set of teeth like that. That's trust, that's love."