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Daily Record
Daily Record
National
Alexander Smail

Edinburgh Zoo's new baby koalas pictured in 'adorable' first look

The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) has shared the first pictures of two new koala joeys born last year at Edinburgh Zoo.

The joeys, who have yet to be named, were born to mothers Kalari and Inala on May 20 and July 13 respectively. It marks the first time there have been two koala joeys at the zoo at one time.

Both of the female youngsters have only recently started to emerge from their mothers' pouches, where newborn koalas spend the first few months of their life.

After outgrowing the pouch, joeys spend around 12 months on their mother's backs before becoming more independent.

According to the RZSS, Kalari mated with male Tanami who lives separately from the females at Edinburgh Zoo. Inala mated with Dameeli who now lives in Pairi Daiza in Belgium.

The joeys have only recently emerged from their mothers' pouches after being born last year (RZSS)

Animal team leader at RZSS Lorna Hughes said: "We are delighted both joeys are doing well and we are beginning to see them more and more. They are the only Queensland koalas in the UK which makes every newborn really special.

"With their species facing many threats in the wild, the two new girls give our charity an incredibly exciting opportunity to engage and inspire even more visitors to help protect, value and love wildlife around the world."

It marks the first time there have ever been two koala joeys at the zoo at the same time (RZSS)

Taking to Facebook to share the news, as well as some photos of the "adorable" koalas, Edinburgh Zoo wrote: "Jumping for JOEYS. Born to mums Inala and Kalari, our TWO koala joeys are starting to spend more time exploring the world beyond their pouches!

"The female youngsters are both doing well and will be named soon."

Before long, over 200 Facebook users had left comments sharing their thoughts on the images.

"Fantastic news," one wrote, while a second stated: "They are so cute."

Meanwhile, a third shared: "We visited and saw them yesterday! Absolutely gorgeous."

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