SAN DIEGO — The San Diego Zoo is celebrating 100 years of friendship with Taronga Conservation Society Australia with the arrival of a new female koala joey this year.
Since 1925, the San Diego Zoo has become home to the largest population of koalas and operates the most successful koala breeding program outside of Australia. This year marks 100 years since the first two koalas arrived in San Diego as a gift from Sydney.
To honor this partnership, Taronga has named the joey Inala (“in-ah-lah”), which means place of peace or rest and is from the Wakka Wakka / Jungara (“yung-garrah”) area in Queensland, Australia.
Born to mother Adori, the young marsupial turned 7 months old on Valentine’s Day and is the first koala birth for the Zoo in two years.
Young Inala is doing well and has begun exploring outside her mother’s pouch. At times, she can be spotted tucked on her mom’s belly or riding on her back.
Inala is still nursing but will taste eucalyptus leaves on occasion and will continue to eat more eucalyptus as she grows older.
Koala joeys are born incredibly tiny (roughly the size of a jellybean), hairless, blind and still developing. Guided by their senses of smell and touch, they make their way into their mother’s pouch to nurse.
Koala joeys typically stay in the pouch for up to seven months and often remain close to their mother for one to three years.
Dedicated experts from San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance study koala populations both at the zoo and in their native Australian environments in effort to better understand the species’ unique ecology, reproductive behaviors and overall health.
According to the Wildlife Alliance, the findings from this work are instrumental in advancing conservation initiatives for koalas and ensuring their survival for generations.
Despite ongoing conservation work and the species’ popularity, koalas are classified as endangered in Queensland, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act of Australia. Main threats to this species in their native habitat include fragmentation, disease and bushfires — such as the wildfires in 2019-2020 that burned 59 million acres, which was roughly the same size as the United Kingdom.
Guests can see the new joey and her mother in their habitat at the San Diego Zoo’s Conrad Prebys Australian Outback.
