Rare marsupial birth revealed by infrared camera at Australia park, video shows

A koala was born at a wildlife park in Australia for the first time in 15 years, thrilling staffers who have greatly anticipated the event.

The birth took place in Yanchep National Park — which spans about 6,000 acres north of Perth — according to a news release from the Parks and Wildlife Service.

The young koala, known as a joey, was discovered when infrared cameras spotted it “peeking out” of its mother’s pouch one night.

The joey’s parents — named Miffy and Louie — were brought in from other wildlife parks across Australia and were encouraged to breed.

“It’s brilliant news,” Phillipa Jarvis Carboon, a senior ranger at the park, said in a video.

“It’s what we’ve been working towards very definitely in all earnest for about the last six years,” Carboon said. “So, it’s a really big achievement…it was a day that we weren’t necessarily sure would happen.”

Miffy and her pouch young — believed to be about 5 months old — will be monitored by park staff going forward.

Koalas, one of the world’s most iconic animal species, are a type of marsupial native to Australia.

They are mostly active at night and have a diet that consists almost entirely of eucalyptus leaves, according to the Australia Zoo. This night owl behavior helps explain why park officials didn’t catch a glimpse of the new joey for until now.

The species is considered endangered as it has experienced “rapid population decline” due to habitat loss, vehicle strikes, drought and disease — with chlamydia, in particular, running rampant and causing infertility.

Today, an estimated 80,000 individuals remain in the wild.

This story was originally published August 21, 2025 at 5:14 PM with the headline "Rare marsupial birth revealed by infrared camera at Australia park, video shows."