With Australian fires killing thousands of koalas, a new baby at Zoo Miami brings ‘Hope’
For more than a week, Zoo Miami’s Ron Magill spent several hours each day sitting in the koala enclosure, hoping to get a glimpse of a new baby in its mother’s pouch.
Zookeepers had told him that the joey had been peeking out, but hadn’t fully broken free.
That was until Wednesday. And Magill said the timing couldn’t be more perfect.
At Zoo Miami, this is the first koala to survive a birth in nearly three decades.
“It’s more than ironic that at a time when Australia is suffering through one of the most catastrophic natural disasters in its history that has claimed the lives of thousands and thousands of koalas, that for the first time in 28 years we have a koala born here,” the zoo spokesman said, referring to the wildfires that have been raging for months across the continent.
After a short discussion, Magill and zoo staff decided to name the joey — it’s not known whether it’s a male or female yet — Hope.
“Hope for the future of koalas and hope for the future of Australia that it can get over this disaster,” he said.
The baby was born in May to a 4-year-old koala named Rinny, and spent more than six months in its mother’s pouch to continue developing. That’s what koalas do.
Magill said a lot can go wrong — and often the babies don’t survive the pouch period.
So when the zookeepers told him that the baby had been seen, he wanted to catch a rare glimpse of a joey leaving the comfort of its mother’s pouch for the first time.
On Wednesday, he loaded up his camera gear, went to the enclosure and sat there. After about two hours, Rinny, who was born Oct. 21, 2015, at the Riverbanks Zoo in South Carolina and arrived at Zoo Miami in 2018, looked at him and then “all the stars aligned.”
“It was serendipitous that I was there to see this historic moment in a koala’s life,” he said.
Magill went to work capturing the moment that the joey left its mother. His images showed embraces between mother and child. The two will not be on public display for several weeks.
Zoo Miami is donating $10,000 to the Zoos Victoria Bushfire Emergency Wildlife Fund and will include information about the new baby. Magill believes the joey is a symbol of hope amid the devastation.
“What an amazing moment to be able to share.”
To donate to the Zoo Miami Foundation and increase the amount being donated, visit www.zoomiami.org/donate and write “Australia” in the memo.
This story was originally published January 9, 2020 at 2:42 PM.
