The koala bear appears to be a gentle beast. But beneath the marsupial's cuddly exterior lies a rage that has to be heard to believed. In the video below, two koala bears engage in some pretty vicious paw-to-paw combat. They seem to be reluctant combatants at first, but once contact is made the situation takes a rather surprising and ear-splitting turn.

Wow. Just wow. If those strange sounds weren't coming from the mouths of the koalas we'd probably argue they couldn't exist in nature.

Of course, the instigator here got off light: the koala has five long, sharp claws for climbing trees that can really ruin your day.

So do you still want to hug a koala? We'd rather take our chances with the kangaroo, their marsupial cousin. We might get kicked, but at least our eardrums would remain intact.

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