Just in time for the school holidays, visitors to the Far South Coast's native animal sanctuary are in for a real treat this year.
Potoroo Palace's newest koala - who is still yet to be named - is now becoming increasingly adventurous and beginning to more boldly explore.
Sometimes this little furry character can be seen clambering awkwardly all over mum Sapphire, but is always in close reach to the safety of her pouch.
The gender is still unknown at this early stage, staff preferring to give them both lots of time quietly together without causing any unnecessary distress.
This baby like all baby marsupials is called a joey. When new-born, a koala joey weighs less than one gram and looks something like a pink jellybean. Roughly 2cm long, blind, hairless, and looking very different to the cute, fluffy little bundle that we see now.
Once inside the safety of the mother's pouch, the little joey still blind, attaches itself to a teat which swells to fill its mouth. It takes several months for the joey to grow and develop, drinking its mother's milk until first showing its little face to the world.
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Nine years ago, Sapphire herself was also born at Potoroo Palace and staff who have been at the sanctuary since her birth have watched her grow into becoming a doting and attentive mother.
Her own arrival to the world was just as exciting. Now her very own joey arrives like a beacon of hope at a time when the future of wild koalas in Southern New South Wales has reached dire proportions.
There's nothing quite like the bright little face of a koala joey fresh to the world to brighten up the bleakest of times and there's no denying that the staff at Potoroo Palace are completely smitten.
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