Edinburgh zoo koala baby goes on show

THE UK’s first ever baby koala has made its debut appearance at Edinburgh Zoo.

Alinga sits in a tree as she carries her new joey in her pouch at Edinburgh Zoo. Picture: PA

The baby koala, or joey, spends the first six to seven months of its life developing in its mother’s pouch, where it suckles on milk and a special type of dropping called pap that will help it digest the eucalyptus leaves that will become its staple diet.

Koala young are extremely underdeveloped at birth - being blind, bald and having no ears.

The joey was believed to have been born in mid-May and is the first for its two-year-old mother Alinga, who arrived at the zoo earlier this year.

Alinga, the zoo’s first female koala, was introduced to mate Goonaroo, one of its two males, in April and keepers have hailed the successful breeding as a “significant achievement”.