One male joey — named TJ — appeared first for first-time mother Sydney. Another new mom, Mallee, welcomed a male as well, named Baxter, after “a stringybark species called Eucalyptus Baxteri,” the zoo said in a press release. “Baxter is chomping on leaves like a champion. He’s obviously still suckling from mum, but he’ll become more and more independent over the coming months,” zookeeper Laura Jones said.
Now that the koalas have emerged, they will begin to ride on their mothers' backs, eventually working up to short trips away from home. After 12 months, wild koalas strike out on their own.
Koalas can live to be 13 to 18 years old, though the average is about 10 years, the Australia Koala Foundation states on its website. In Australia today, habitat loss threatens the animals, as deforestation, wildfires and disease rob koalas of the eucalyptus they need to survive.
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