With their bemused expressions and adorably rounded bodies, it’s no wonder that koalas have climbed their way to the top of the “must-see” list for many of our visitors. People love the koalas’ teddy bear appearance, but our koala keepers consider them complex and sometimes challenging little creatures with a wide range of personalities and attitudes. Their sole sustenance is eucalyptus, making them hard for many zoos to keep, but perfect for San Diego, as our climate is great for growing the tall, fragrant trees. We have our own browse farm, where we grow and harvest fresh eucalyptus for our koalas to eat.

The San Diego Zoo received its first two koalas in 1925, as a gift from the children of Sydney, Australia, to the children of San Diego. They were named after characters in a famous Australian children’s story by May Gibbs—Snugglepot and Cuddlepie—and were soon major celebrities. Over the next 34 years, the Zoo received koalas in 1928, 1951, and 1959, but it was not until 1960 that the first koala was born here. It was such a momentous occasion that the Zoo received the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Edward Bean Award for the Most Notable Birth for the first birth of a koala in the US.

Our Zoo population took off from there, with 12 koalas born between 1960 and 1968, when breeding stopped. Australia had always been highly selective in regard to the export of any native wildlife, and a total ban on the export of koalas was enacted in the 1960s.

When our last male, Teddy, died in 1976, Australian airline Qantas offered to help us obtain more koalas. Teddy had appeared in some of that airline’s commercials. It also helped that 1976 was a bicentennial year for the US, and the Australian government waived the export ban for this one occasion. Later that year we received two male and four female koalas: Waltzing, Cough Drop, Matilda, Audrey, Pepsi, and Coke. At the time, we did not know how successful the San Diego Zoo would be in breeding this group of koalas. Today, the San Diego Zoo has the largest colony of koalas outside of Australia, with 20 living at the Zoo and more than 30 on loan to other zoos in the US and Europe.

It is our Zoo’s tradition to give the koalas an Australian Aboriginal name drawn from a characteristic or personality trait, or from a place. For example, Mundooie’s name means “foot,” because that’s the first part of him keepers saw in his mother’s pouch. Yabber’s name means “talk,” as her antics inspire much chatter among her keepers! One of our most famous koalas was Goolara, or “moonlight,” an albino koala born here in 1985. His birth surprised keepers and created a great deal of excitement because albino koala births are rare. In 1997, another albino, Onya-Birri, which means “ghost boy,” was born.

In August 2009, a tiny joey no larger than a gummy bear was discovered on the ground of our koala yard by one of the keepers. The baby was amazingly still alive but needed help quickly! The joey was warmed up on a rubber glove filled with warm water and then rushed, along with its mother, Nariah, to the Zoo’s Jennings Center for Zoological Medicine. The little one was attached to one of the nipples in Nariah’s pouch and the pouch was closed with a few loose sutures to make sure the joey didn’t fall out again. Five days later, Nariah was rechecked, and we found that her joey was still alive and had visibly grown. It was an amazing rescue! Tonaleah eventually gave birth to six joeys of her own—four males and two females.

Our Australian Outback opened in May 2013. It's a wonderful habitat for our large koala colony, as well as for other Aussie animals. Some of our koalas are used as animal ambassadors. The koalas can be seen along spacious walkways around a Queenslander-style “house” that serves as the koala care center, where you can see keepers preparing eucalyptus browse for the koalas. Because male koalas can be territorial, they have their own perches in one area, while the more social females and their babies, called joeys, share another area. The elevated walkways bring you to eye level with the koalas as they perch in their forest of eucalyptus. Human children can practice their koala climbing skills on a play structure that features life-size koala sculptures.

Some of our koalas serve as animal ambassadors. You may see them with a wildlife care specialist at Zoo events, or even on television, helping to spread the word about koala conservation.