By Derek Schlennstedt
Healesville Sanctuary has welcomed its newest member to its burgeoning koala family.
The little male, born to mum Emily and dad Dindi is only seven months old and has only just begun to peek out from inside mum’s pouch.
Born in April during a thunderstorm, keepers watched the jelly bean sized joey make its way to mum’s warm and cosy pouch.
“He was no bigger than a jelly bean; pink, hairless and tiny,” Amie Hindson, senior koala keeper at Healesville Sanctuary said.
“We watched him make his way from the birth canal to the pouch completely unaided, relying on his already well-developed senses of smell and touch and an innate sense of direction.”
“Once inside the safety of the pouch, he attached himself to one of the two teats.”
From then, we’ve been waiting and watching her pouch grow.”
Since then there’s been very little movement, with the joey growing up almost completely within the warm confines of mum’s pouch.
Though only a few weeks ago the joey emerged from the pouch and keepers believe he should be riding upon his mother’s back in time for the opening of the new Kangaroo Country exhibit on 20 December.
