First Zoo Miami koala to survive birth in decades dies from health issues at age 2
It took months for the baby koala to emerge from his mother’s pouch.
And when he finally did in May of 2019, Zoo Miami’s Ron Magill was there waiting with his camera to document the marsupial’s ’s first moments of freedom.
The joey — named Hope as a message at a time when wildfires were killing thousands of koalas in Australia —became the first koala to survive a birth in nearly three decades and only the third to be born at Zoo Miami.
Just a little more than two years after his birth, the koala has died from health complications. Zoo staff found him dead Sunday night, after several days of being lethargic and not having an appetite. A necropsy will now be done in order to determine what caused the koala’s death.
“He was in fact a ray of hope for a continent going through catastrophic natural disasters,” Magill said. “We are devastated, beyond devastated.”
Hope, born May 30 2019, became an international star in the days following Magill’s January 2020 announcement that he finally was able to photograph the baby. Hope was featured on the Today show. Thousands donated money to the Zoos Victoria Bushfire Emergency Wildlife Fund in Hope’s honor.
Within the last six months to a year, Hope began having recurring issues with his gastro-intestinal system, Magill said. The Animal Health department had been monitoring him closely.
“These issues are not uncommon in koalas and Hope did show some positive improvement with the treatments he was given,” Magill said in a news release. “However, over the past week, his health seemed to rapidly decline.”
Hope was recently put under anesthesia to do a thorough exam that included X-rays, blood collection, and various cultures. There was no immediate answer for Hope’s decline, but staff though they may have gotten answers from the results of the tests.
Hope died before the results came in.
Rinny, 5 and Milo, 10 — Hope’s parents — remain at the zoo and appeared to be doing well, Magill said. Breeding is still an option.
“We will try to put them together again and hope and pray and keep our fingers crossed that there will be another joey,” he said.
