Columbus Zoo’s first baby koala in 15 years important to conservation following Australian wildfires

Andrew Horne
Wed, 03 Mar 2021 01:11:41 +0000
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Katy, the koala, rests her hand on her pouch at Columbus Zoo and Aquarium on Dec. 23, 2020. Credit: Courtesy of Columbus Zoo and Aquarium

The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium’s first baby koala in 15 years will leave the pouch in the coming weeks, and come into the world at a time when its species has been under threat of endangerment.

Zookeepers estimate the mother, Katy the koala, gave birth to her joey July 5, 2020. Joeys are born about the size of a jelly bean and generally stay inside their mother’s pouch for about six months, Emily Grumney, a zookeeper in the Australia region of the Columbus Zoo, said. The joey is expected to fully leave Katy’s pouch in mid-March and will stay with her until it is about a year old.

Partnering with the Species Survival Plan, a program operated by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, the Columbus Zoo is working to help restore and maintain a healthy koala population and genetic diversity, according to a January press release. Grumney said the zoo is one of nine facilities in the U.S. to care for koalas.

“It’s very important that we work with the Species Survival Plan because ultimately the goal is to maintain genetic diversities in order to keep the animals healthy,” Grumney said.

The koala has been classified as a “vulnerable” species — one level below endangered — under Australia’s Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act since 2012. However, recent natural disasters have put the species at increased risk.

The habitat and population of koalas, a species exclusively native to Australia, were severely damaged by Australian wildfires in February 2020, losing 80 percent of their habitat and half of their population, Grumney said. The Columbus Zoo is working with the Australian government to help provide proper care for koalas.

The Columbus Zoo funds and supports Zoos Victoria and the Australia Zoo to assist in the conservation efforts of the koalas and their habitat, Michael Kreger, vice president of conservation and sustainability at the Columbus Zoo, said.

“The bushfires certainly affected koala habitat in some areas and destroyed a lot of the eucalyptus,” Kreger said. “It affected a lot more than just koalas in terms of Australian flora and fauna.”

Eucalyptus is a highly toxic plant and the primary food source for koalas. Grumney said the joey’s next stage of development will be evolving bacteria in its gut to digest the plant.

Grumney said the zoo team also has not voted on the name for the joey, as they do not yet know its gender.

“Our team is coming up with different names,” Grumney said. “It’s really one of the best parts of our jobs — we’re very excited.”

Grumney said Katy has done a good job caring for her joey, so the zookeeping team has been able to just keep watch and not interfere with the pair.

“We don’t want to interfere and stress them out, so we’ve been letting Katy do all of the work — we just keep checking on the baby,” Grumney said. “So, once the joey starts coming out of the pouch more reliably, we will do a wellness exam and figure out the gender.”

Through a program with the San Diego Zoo, the Columbus Zoo and other koala holding facilities help fund research into koala habitat loss, disease, population diversity and climate change in various areas of Australia. The research is run by the University of Queensland and an Australia-based organization, Science for Wildlife, Kreger said.

“They’re looking at the effects of different diseases, or foraging types or social behavior of koalas,” Kreger said. “In some instances, there’s translocation of koalas.”

People can help support efforts to restore the habitat and population by providing funds directly to Australian organizations working with koala conservation efforts, supporting zoos that fund Australian conservation projects and visiting Australia when travel restrictions from the pandemic ease, Kreger said.

“Another thing that you could do is ecotourism. Go to Australia, see these animals and support the communities that are really making a living through showing people their wildlife,” Kreger said. “By doing that, and staying at their hotels, and eating at their restaurants, putting money into the wildlife rescue centers that you visit — that does a lot.”