Wild Life Sydney Zoo is delighted to announce the debut of its newest arrival, a male koala joey who emerged from his mother’s pouch for the first time earlier this week. Now the search is on for a koala-ty name for the little bub!
The unnamed koala joey was welcomed into the world in October last year and is the son of Bruce and Kyara, and the sibling of Kikki who was born in the last breeding season.
“Our new furry friend is only eight months old and has now fully emerged out of his mother’s pouch which makes him quite advanced for his age,” says Caroline Munro, Senior Keeper at Wild Life Sydney Zoo. “He is also experimenting with eating eucalyptus leaves, though will continue stay with mum and supplement his diet with her milk until he is 12 months old.
“Usually our koala joeys stay snuggled up with mum, getting their much-needed 20+ hours of sleep a day, but this little guy appears to be more interested in making friends, and can be found holding tight onto mum to catch a better glimpse of his visitors throughout the day.”
The arrival of the new koala joey marks another successful year of koala breeding for the Darling Harbour attraction, and will help to further educate the public on the need to protect the Australian-native species which is currently listed as vulnerable in the wild.
To celebrate the new arrival with all of Australia, Wild Life Sydney Zoo are on the hunt for the perfect name that encapsulates their newest arrival’s eager and bubbly personality, and are calling on the public for help. There’s only one condition – in line with the attraction’s naming traditions, his name has to start with the letter ‘B’ after his father!
To enter, Australians are encouraged to visit the Wild Life Sydney Zoo Facebook page and comment with their suggestion, and guests to the attraction this school holidays can drop their entry in a box after meeting their new friend on Koala Rooftop. The winning name will be announced on Friday 13th July with the winning entrant winning a family pass to Wild Life Sydney Zoo.
This school holidays, Wild Life Sydney Zoo has partnered with Discovery Channel’s Animal Planet to invite guests on a quoll-ity quest to discover fascinating features about the amazing places our Australian friends call home. Through daily education talks and the attraction’s Koala Encounter experience, visitors can also get up close and personal with the iconic marsupial and learn about their important place in the ecosystem.
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