Baby koala comes out of mother's pouch at zoo in Kagoshima
A healthy baby koala at a zoo in southwestern Japan has made its first appearance outside of its mother's pouch.
The koala, confirmed as a male, was born in November last year at Hirakawa Zoo in Kagoshima City. The zoo has the largest number of koalas in Japan.
After growing in the pouch, the baby was first seen out of it on June 9, more than six months after his birth. He has brown fur and a white nose.
The zoo says he is about 25 centimeters in length, and keeps clinging tightly to his mother.
On Monday, zookeepers managed to separate him for a weigh-in. They said he weighed 816 grams, proof of his steady growth.
Two boys visiting the zoo with their parents from Chiba Prefecture, near Tokyo, said this was the first baby koala they had ever seen. They said it was small and cute.
Including this baby, 20 koalas are being raised at the zoo.
The baby koala has yet to be named. The zoo plans to hold a public poll to choose a name. Zookeeper Ochiai Shinsaku said now is the only time when the baby is seen always tightly clinging to his mother. He called on people to come to take a look at the intimate mother-baby connection and think about a name for the little koala.
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