North American Koala Population

IndianRhino

IndianRhino

Well-Known Member
5+ year member
The purpose of this thread is to document the births, deaths, and transfers of all koalas in North America... Yep, that's right! I'm back with another population list, a really easy-to-make one for that matter. Anyways, let's get right into it!

According to the AZA/SSP, all the koalas here are of the Queensland (adustus) subspecies which I believe is the case for the majority if not all koalas in captivity. This population is relatively small and basically consists of SDZ's humongous colony and a few other pairs at a few other facilities. SDZ was the first to successfully breed and house this species in North America and until recently, owned all the animals in the country. For years now, SDZ has been loaning a koala or two to various other zoos for a few months as a special attraction at that zoo (Kansas City currently has a pair for this purpose). Currently, there are a total of 9 regular holders plus Kansas City which has a pair on loan from SDZ (they're due to head back soon). Not surprisingly, San Diego is the only one of the current 10 holders to actually hold more than 2 individual koalas. Despite this, the population is breeding well both at SDZ and at the few other breeding facilities. 4 of the non-SDZ breeding pairs have produced joeys in the last 3 years and unsurprisingly SDZ had 7 joeys born in 2021 alone. A bit of moving around of animals will be occurring in the near future so that all holders (besides Kansas City) will be able to breed as all holders have been given breeding recommendations. To conclude this mini-essay of an introduction, please let me know if I'm missing any holders or individuals or if I made any errors. And as always, I hope you enjoy!

Cleveland Metroparks Zoo - Cleveland, Ohio - 1.1 (2)
1.0 Nyoonbi (Bulkee x Colliet) February 13th, 2011 at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo
0.1 Mackenzie (Hunter x Karri) June 15th, 2015 at Los Angeles Zoo

Columbus Zoo - Powell, Ohio - 0.2 (2)
0.1 Katy (Burley x Cambee) November 5th, 2015 at San Diego Zoo
0.1 Ellin (Thoar x Katy) July 4th, 2020 at Columbus Zoo

Kansas City Zoo - Kansas City, Missouri - 2.0 (2)
1.0 Thackory (Muuri x Nariah) June 15th, 2011 at San Diego Zoo
1.0 Chuckels (Oliver x Cambee) October 13th, 2014 at San Diego Zoo

Los Angeles Zoo - Los Angeles, California - 0.1 (1)
0.1 Maya (Nyoonbi x Mackenzie) February 8th, 2020 at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo

Palm Beach Zoo - West Palm Beach, Florida - 1.0 (1)
1.0 Sydney (Heathcliff x Ceduna) March 18th, 2019

Riverbanks Zoo - Columbia, South Carolina - 1.1 (2)
1.0 Coedie (Mundooie x Cambee) July 30th, 2013 at San Diego Zoo
0.1 Charlotte (Jimmy x Lottie) July 15th, 2017 at Riverbanks Zoo

San Diego Zoo - San Diego, California - 16.16.6 (38)
1.0 Simba (Wonder x Matilda) February 11th, 2008 at Symbio Wildlife Park
1.0 Burley (Muuri x Cooladi) May 22nd, 2009 at San Diego Zoo
1.0 Oliver (Jimmy x Lottie) April 29th, 2009 at Riverbanks Zoo
1.0 Austin/Wundurra (Bulkee x Midgee) August 15th, 2010 at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo
1.0 Gummy (Yannathan x Tonahleah) August 17th, 2012 at San Diego Zoo
1.0 Burra (Coombah x Tonahleah) August 3rd, 2013 at San Diego Zoo
1.0 Logan (Hunter x Karri) June 27th, 2014 at Los Angeles Zoo
1.0 Moki (Oliver x Beejay) November 2nd, 2014 at San Diego Zoo
1.0 Tobbery (Burley x Sooky) December 21st, 2016 at San Diego Zoo
1.0 Warrin (Harrison x Tonahleah) April 7th, 2017 at San Diego Zoo
1.0 Boomori (Austin/Wundurra x Tharah) February 27th, 2018 at San Diego Zoo
1.0 Noorundi (Logan x Tonahleah) March 26th, 2018 at San Diego Zoo
1.0 Omeo (Simba x Beejay) July 15th, 2019 at San Diego Zoo
1.0 Iluka (Simba x Allira) October 14th, 2019 at San Diego Zoo
1.0 Telowie (Logan x Tharah) April 13th, 2020 at San Diego Zoo
1.0 Ngarra (Burley x Adori) February 23rd, 2021 at San Diego Zoo
0.1 Cynthia (Coori x Amaroo) July 14th, 2010 at San Francisco Zoo
0.1 Cambee (Coombah x Yabber) July 21st, 2010 at San Diego Zoo
0.1 Wanneroo (Bulkee x Midgee) November 5th, 2011 at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo
0.1 Tharah (Muuri x Tonahleah) November 4th, 2014 at San Diego Zoo
0.1 Kolet (Burley x Wanneroo) December 16th, 2015 at San Diego Zoo
0.1 Allira (Harrison x Beejay) March 19th, 2017 at San Diego Zoo
0.1 Bindi (Burley x Cambee) September 30th, 2017 at San Diego Zoo
0.1 Coolaroo (Simba x Beejay) May 3rd, 2018 at San Diego Zoo
0.1 Adori (Logan x Sooky) April 1st, 2019 at San Diego Zoo
0.1 Merindah (Hunter x Tharah) April 8th, 2019 at San Diego Zoo
0.1 Myalla (Logan x Wanneroo) April 17th, 2019 at San Diego Zoo
0.1 Nyani (Hunter x Cambee) August 27th, 2019 at San Diego Zoo
0.1 Elaroo (Hunter x Wanneroo) March 25th, 2020 at San Diego Zoo
0.1 Cooinda (Thackory x Coolaroo) April 20th, 2020 at San Diego Zoo
0.1 Mirri (Warrin x Bindi) September 2nd, 2020 at San Diego Zoo
0.1 Kumiri (Simba x Allira) September 27th, 2020 at San Diego Zoo
0.0.1 TBD (Chuckels x Merindah) March 19th, 2021 at San Diego Zoo
0.0.1 TBD (Austin/Wundurra x Cambee) April 18th, 2021 at San Diego Zoo
0.0.1 TBD (Gummy x Coolaroo) April 27th, 2021 at San Diego Zoo
0.0.1 TBD (Oliver x Wanneroo) May 2nd, 2021 at San Diego Zoo
0.0.1 TBD (Logan x Tharah) May 12th, 2021 at San Diego Zoo
0.0.1 TBD (Burley x Myalla) May 16th, 2021 at San Diego Zoo

San Francisco Zoo - San Francisco, California - 1.0 (1)
1.0 Flin (Hunter x Karri) September 15th, 2017 at Los Angeles Zoo

Zoo Miami - Miami, Florida - 1.1 (2)
1.0 Milo (Coombah x Cooladi) July 2nd, 2011 at San Diego Zoo
0.1 Rinny (Jimmy x Lottie) October 21st, 2015 at Riverbanks Zoo

Zoo Tampa - Tampa, Florida - 1.1 (2)
1.0 Heathcliff (Jimmy x Lottie) September 19th, 2012 at Riverbanks Zoo
0.1 Ceduna (Hunter x Karri) August 26th, 2013 at Los Angeles Zoo

Total: 53 (24.23.6)
 
IndianRhino said:
The purpose of this thread is to document the births, deaths, and transfers of all koalas in North America... Yep, that's right! I'm back with another population list, a really easy-to-make one for that matter. Anyways, let's get right into it!

According to the AZA/SSP, all the koalas here are of the Queensland (adustus) subspecies which I believe is the case for the majority if not all koalas in captivity. This population is relatively small and basically consists of SDZ's humongous colony and a few other pairs at a few other facilities. SDZ was the first to successfully breed and house this species in North America and until recently, owned all the animals in the country. For years now, SDZ has been loaning a koala or two to various other zoos for a few months as a special attraction at that zoo (Kansas City currently has a pair for this purpose). Currently, there are a total of 9 regular holders plus Kansas City which has a pair on loan from SDZ (they're due to head back soon). Not surprisingly, San Diego is the only one of the current 10 holders to actually hold more than 2 individual koalas. Despite this, the population is breeding well both at SDZ and at the few other breeding facilities. 4 of the non-SDZ breeding pairs have produced joeys in the last 3 years and unsurprisingly SDZ had 7 joeys born in 2021 alone. A bit of moving around of animals will be occurring in the near future so that all holders (besides Kansas City) will be able to breed as all holders have been given breeding recommendations. To conclude this mini-essay of an introduction, please let me know if I'm missing any holders or individuals or if I made any errors. And as always, I hope you enjoy!

Cleveland Metroparks Zoo - Cleveland, Ohio - 1.1 (2)
1.0 Nyoonbi (Bulkee x Colliet) February 13th, 2011 at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo
0.1 Mackenzie (Hunter x Karri) June 15th, 2015 at Los Angeles Zoo

Columbus Zoo - Powell, Ohio - 0.2 (2)
0.1 Katy (Burley x Cambee) November 5th, 2015 at San Diego Zoo
0.1 Ellin (Thoar x Katy) July 4th, 2020 at Columbus Zoo

Kansas City Zoo - Kansas City, Missouri - 2.0 (2)
1.0 Thackory (Muuri x Nariah) June 15th, 2011 at San Diego Zoo
1.0 Chuckels (Oliver x Cambee) October 13th, 2014 at San Diego Zoo

Los Angeles Zoo - Los Angeles, California - 0.1 (1)
0.1 Maya (Nyoonbi x Mackenzie) February 8th, 2020 at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo

Palm Beach Zoo - West Palm Beach, Florida - 1.0 (1)
1.0 Sydney (Heathcliff x Ceduna) March 18th, 2019

Riverbanks Zoo - Columbia, South Carolina - 1.1 (2)
1.0 Coedie (Mundooie x Cambee) July 30th, 2013 at San Diego Zoo
0.1 Charlotte (Jimmy x Lottie) July 15th, 2017 at Riverbanks Zoo

San Diego Zoo - San Diego, California - 16.16.6 (38)
1.0 Simba (Wonder x Matilda) February 11th, 2008 at Symbio Wildlife Park
1.0 Burley (Muuri x Cooladi) May 22nd, 2009 at San Diego Zoo
1.0 Oliver (Jimmy x Lottie) April 29th, 2009 at Riverbanks Zoo
1.0 Austin/Wundurra (Bulkee x Midgee) August 15th, 2010 at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo
1.0 Gummy (Yannathan x Tonahleah) August 17th, 2012 at San Diego Zoo
1.0 Burra (Coombah x Tonahleah) August 3rd, 2013 at San Diego Zoo
1.0 Logan (Hunter x Karri) June 27th, 2014 at Los Angeles Zoo
1.0 Moki (Oliver x Beejay) November 2nd, 2014 at San Diego Zoo
1.0 Tobbery (Burley x Sooky) December 21st, 2016 at San Diego Zoo
1.0 Warrin (Harrison x Tonahleah) April 7th, 2017 at San Diego Zoo
1.0 Boomori (Austin/Wundurra x Tharah) February 27th, 2018 at San Diego Zoo
1.0 Noorundi (Logan x Tonahleah) March 26th, 2018 at San Diego Zoo
1.0 Omeo (Simba x Beejay) July 15th, 2019 at San Diego Zoo
1.0 Iluka (Simba x Allira) October 14th, 2019 at San Diego Zoo
1.0 Telowie (Logan x Tharah) April 13th, 2020 at San Diego Zoo
1.0 Ngarra (Burley x Adori) February 23rd, 2021 at San Diego Zoo
0.1 Cynthia (Coori x Amaroo) July 14th, 2010 at San Francisco Zoo
0.1 Cambee (Coombah x Yabber) July 21st, 2010 at San Diego Zoo
0.1 Wanneroo (Bulkee x Midgee) November 5th, 2011 at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo
0.1 Tharah (Muuri x Tonahleah) November 4th, 2014 at San Diego Zoo
0.1 Kolet (Burley x Wanneroo) December 16th, 2015 at San Diego Zoo
0.1 Allira (Harrison x Beejay) March 19th, 2017 at San Diego Zoo
0.1 Bindi (Burley x Cambee) September 30th, 2017 at San Diego Zoo
0.1 Coolaroo (Simba x Beejay) May 3rd, 2018 at San Diego Zoo
0.1 Adori (Logan x Sooky) April 1st, 2019 at San Diego Zoo
0.1 Merindah (Hunter x Tharah) April 8th, 2019 at San Diego Zoo
0.1 Myalla (Logan x Wanneroo) April 17th, 2019 at San Diego Zoo
0.1 Nyani (Hunter x Cambee) August 27th, 2019 at San Diego Zoo
0.1 Elaroo (Hunter x Wanneroo) March 25th, 2020 at San Diego Zoo
0.1 Cooinda (Thackory x Coolaroo) April 20th, 2020 at San Diego Zoo
0.1 Mirri (Warrin x Bindi) September 2nd, 2020 at San Diego Zoo
0.1 Kumiri (Simba x Allira) September 27th, 2020 at San Diego Zoo
0.0.1 TBD (Chuckels x Merindah) March 19th, 2021 at San Diego Zoo
0.0.1 TBD (Austin/Wundurra x Cambee) April 18th, 2021 at San Diego Zoo
0.0.1 TBD (Gummy x Coolaroo) April 27th, 2021 at San Diego Zoo
0.0.1 TBD (Oliver x Wanneroo) May 2nd, 2021 at San Diego Zoo
0.0.1 TBD (Logan x Tharah) May 12th, 2021 at San Diego Zoo
0.0.1 TBD (Burley x Myalla) May 16th, 2021 at San Diego Zoo

San Francisco Zoo - San Francisco, California - 1.0 (1)
1.0 Flin (Hunter x Karri) September 15th, 2017 at Los Angeles Zoo

Zoo Miami - Miami, Florida - 1.1 (2)
1.0 Milo (Coombah x Cooladi) July 2nd, 2011 at San Diego Zoo
0.1 Rinny (Jimmy x Lottie) October 21st, 2015 at Riverbanks Zoo

Zoo Tampa - Tampa, Florida - 1.1 (2)
1.0 Heathcliff (Jimmy x Lottie) September 19th, 2012 at Riverbanks Zoo
0.1 Ceduna (Hunter x Karri) August 26th, 2013 at Los Angeles Zoo

Total: 53 (24.23.6)
Click to expand...

San Diego are breeding them like rabbits geez! Even Australian zoos don't breed their Koalas that much.

They only have about four enclosures though (If I can remember correctly); so do they keep some of them off display?
 
Jambo said:
San Diego are breeding them like rabbits geez! Even Australian zoos don't breed their Koalas that much.
Click to expand...

Well you guys don't like sharing very much so if we want to keep them we have to be keeping up the population! :p

Jambo said:
They only have about four enclosures though (If I can remember correctly); so do they keep some of them off display?
Click to expand...

They currently have 7 on-show outdoor exhibits, and appear to have at least 5 outdoor offshow exhibits not including holding inside the koala building.
 
birdsandbats said:
I didn't realize San Diego had that many Koalas, woah! :eek:
Click to expand...

I knew they were held at a handful of North American zoos but didn’t realise the extent to which San Diego Zoo controlled the regional population - maintaining a immense colony and rationing them out to a handful of zoos as temporary loans.

As someone who lives in Australasia, it’s bizarre to see them treated as any sort of commodity. To state the obvious - as a native species, they can be found at the majority of zoos or wildlife parks in Australia and for the most part are considered boring.

For contrast, North America has three times as many holders for Okapi as they do Koala - Okapi being a species not seen in any Australasian zoo and one that would be considered novel and exciting to anyone within our region.
 
Three joeys have emerged from the pouch at San Diego Zoo:

The mothers are:

0.1 Coolaroo (May 3, 2018) Simba x Beejay
0.1 Adori (April 1, 2019) Logan x Sooky)
0.1 Merindah (April 8, 2019) Hunter x Tharah

Reported on socials.
 
Smaggledagle said:
Riverbanks had a joey born this year, to Charlotte x Coedie (don't know if the zoo transferred Coedie to another facility).
Click to expand...
For future reference, the standard for writing out parentage is Sire x Dam (a.k.a. Father x Mother), so it'd be Coedie x Charlotte. Not a huge deal that you didn't write it in this format, but wanted to make sure you're aware this is the standard format for the future.
 
Neil chace said:
For future reference, the standard for writing out parentage is Sire x Dam (a.k.a. Father x Mother), so it'd be Coedie x Charlotte. Not a huge deal that you didn't write it in this format, but wanted to make sure you're aware this is the standard format for the future.
Click to expand...

Thank you for pointing that out to me.
 
Do you know the heritage of 1:0 Mundoe who now lives at ZooParc de Beauval but was born in San Diego?
 
Elena said:
1.0 Burra moved from San Diego to Los Angeles for breeding.

Keeper Interview: Behind the Scenes of a Koala Introduction - Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens (LA Zoo)

Cleveland Metroparks Zoo also has 1.0 Koen, born on or about April 6, 2021 (they wished him a happy 1st birthday on social media on April 6, 2022).
Click to expand...

1.0 Burra has recently been sent to Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. It was listed as a 'sale', so it seems to be a permanent move.

https://lazoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/01.2023-Animal-Transactions.pdf
 
Jambo said:
1.0 Burra has recently been sent to Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. It was listed as a 'sale', so it seems to be a permanent move.

https://lazoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/01.2023-Animal-Transactions.pdf
Click to expand...

I believe this is actually a reference to Koen, the male who was born in Cleveland around April 2021 and thus already lives there. His mother, Mackenzie, was born in LA, and the LA Zoo probably "owned" him, thus the reference to eliminating an unnecessary loan. Burra hasn't moved from LA.
 
Does anyone know how Cynthia is doing? She hasn't been around the exhibits in sfzoo for a while now, but I haven't seen any news regarding that.
 
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