What’s cute and cuddly looking, round and fuzzy, and looks like a bear?  Why, of course, the koala!  Contrary to popular belief, the koala is not truly a bear; in fact these animals are marsupials – they carry their baby in a pouch – and are related to kangaroos and wallabies.  Zoo Miami is proud to be the home of DandaLoo and Cobber, our 14-year-old koalas.  Native to Australia, they are found in the Australian exhibit at our zoo.

Maria Sider, one of their zookeepers, gives us exclusive information on these slow-moving, sleepy animals that usually live high in eucalyptus trees. Perhaps one day we will see DandaLoo give birth to and carry a joey (a koala baby) inside her pouch!

 Q: How long have you been a zookeeper at Zoo Miami and what is your education/experience?

 A: I started as a volunteer at Zoo Miami in September 2008 and was hired in March 2009. I hold a bachelor's of Business Administration in Marketing and Business Management and plan to finish my second bachelor's degree in Environmental Studies next spring.  In terms of animal experience, when I was younger I would volunteer at local animal shelters and intern at animal hospitals.  Most recently, I worked as a veterinary technician of cats, dogs, birds, ferrets, and iguanas for more than a year before coming to Zoo Miami.

 

 

A: Working with them is always an exciting experience.  Koalas were my first favorite animal as a child and I never thought I'd ever get to work with them.  They're still a top favorite and I'm sure will always be now that I am more familiar with them.  I'd have to say the most exciting part about working with them is the routine first thing in the morning.  Both koalas are weighed every morning, so we get to see them traverse their props in their night houses using their strong claws and there are almost always some exciting vocalizations in the morning from Cobber.  During this time, we get a good view of their mobility and offer some tactile enrichment. They're just fun to watch, even when they're sleeping because they put themselves into the craziest positions where they must balance really well in order to stay put.

 

A: No, not really. The koalas are fairly docile animals; however, when they breed it's a completely different story, as they can become very aggressive with each other, to the point where we need at least three keepers to assist with a breeding session.  Let's just say there's lots of swatting and biting at each other and plenty of loud vocalizations going on.  We have to work quickly to separate them once they're done breeding so that they do not hurt each other. We even have to wear goggles and long gloves when doing this!  It can get pretty intense!

 

A: DandaLoo is 14 years old.  She vocalizes loudly and the sound can vary from a deep to a higher-pitched bellow, although she doesn’t do it often.  Both of them have very cottony soft fur and enjoy it when we rub their backs. They sleep nearly all day but when they're awake you'll notice them monitoring what's going on inside the building, such as watching the tree kangaroos in the adjacent night houses.  When they're in the display room you can catch them watching the patrons as they walk by. 

A: He is also 14 years old. He's slightly larger in size than our female and is much more vocal.  His vocalizations are a signal to female koalas, in this case, DandaLoo, that he's ready to breed.  It is so amazing to hear him vocalize.  It's very deep, like a bellowing grunting sound.  If you were in the wild you would expect this sound to come from a very large and potentially dangerous animal, not a small, fluffy 16-pound koala.

 

A: Koalas on average sleep anywhere between 18 – 22 hours a day and when they're awake they're usually eating, moving from prop to prop or grooming themselves,  so it can be tricky finding the right time to enrich them.  Unlike many of our other mammals, koalas only eat eucalyptus, so we cannot treat them to various browse items to play with or eat. Cobber gets six large bunches and DandaLoo gets 5 bunches, and they almost always eat all of it. That's quite a bit of leaves! Every now and then we will hold very fragrant browse items in our hands for them to smell, such as schefflera or Brazilian pepper. They also love the way our hats smell so we allow them to smell them and sometimes they attempt to nibble them.  Their usual enrichment is tactile.  They love when we rub their backs and cheeks.  Believe it or not, they have the softest hands.  You'd think they'd be a little rough since they walk along the props and hold on to the branches throughout the day.  We also give each koala time to spend in the other’s night house so they can smell each other and see what's going on in a different space from his or her own.

A: Sleep and eat eucalyptus!  They're pretty funny to watch as they groom themselves, too.

 

 

A: Both koalas are trained to get weighed every morning and we send their weight to the San Diego Zoo every Friday.  In order to weigh them they must climb down their props, walk down the hallway and into a large enclosure. Cobber usually does all this by himself.  DandaLoo will, too, but she was accustomed to being held so we usually carry her to the enclosure and allow her to walk to the display room or back to one of the night houses.  It's so much fun to watch Cobber walk in the morning.  He twists his hips so much when he walks and it's just so cute!  They both also walk themselves from the display room back to their night houses on their own.

 

So next time you’re at Zoo Miami, stop by Australia and enjoy our amazing koalas!