Edinburgh Zoo welcomes six-month old joey to the world

The first koala joey to ever be born in the UK has now emerged from its mother's pouch, Edinburgh Zoo has announced.

The zoo's keepers believe the joey was born around mid-May and is now fully developed and has become more active.

Koala joeys are born after a gestation period of 30-35 weeks, the size of a jellybean, and they are blind with no ears or fur.

Using CCTV, the keepers were able to catch a glimpse of the youngster emerging from its mother Alinga's pouch.

Lorna Hughes, team leader for koalas, hoofstock and primates at the zoo, said: “We will wait until the joey is spending all of its time outside of the pouch before weighing and sexing it, though we are very happy with its progress so far.

"First time mum Alinga is also doing very well, and has taken to being a mother like a natural; she is very relaxed even when the little joey is wriggling about”.

Two-year-old Alinga fell pregnant earlier this year after her first introduction to male koala Goonaroo.

The zoo's head of living collections, Darren McGarry, said: “As koalas are solitary animals, bringing them together for mating required a lot of skill. So for Alinga to successfully breed on the first attempt is a great accomplishment for the team.
 
“Each of our three adult koalas, Alinga, Goonaroo and Yabbra have very distinct characters and we cannot wait to see what sort of character our little joey has.”

Image credit: Edinburgh Zoo