Sooky, Tharah and Wanneroo gave birth to healthy joeys in April, and their precious cargo recently started to peek out of the pouch! Congrats to our mama marsupials.
Some of you may remember Tharah and her mate, Hunter, from Animal Planet's The Zoo: San Diego. Our keepers captured the birth of their joey in episode 2, and she has the pinkest gumdrop nose. 💕🐨
A koala, like other marsupials, begins life in a very unusual way. When it is born, it is only about the size of a large jelly bean and is not yet fully developed. In fact, a newborn joey can't even see or hear, but it sure can climb! Soon after the joey is born, it uses strong forelimbs and hands to crawl from the birth canal into its mother's pouch. The joey attaches to one of two nipples in this warm, safe place where it drinks milk and grows during the next six months.
Even after it starts leaving the pouch, a joey returns there when it wants to hide or sleep. Sometimes it rides on its mother's belly. After it grows too large for the pouch, the joey climbs onto its mother's back and holds on with strong hands and feet. After about a year, it can live alone in the trees.
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