Koala joey Bobby is the youngest of Ballarat Wildlife Park's 22-strong koala colony but the next few weeks will tell whether he remains the youngest for much longer.
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With the koala breeding season recently finished and koala pregnancies lasting only 33 to 36 days, keepers will soon start checking the pouches of the females to see whether any babies have been born.
Koala keeper Meryam Zeyrek said joeys were born about the size of a jellybean and make their way through the mother's fur from the birth canal to the pouch where it stayed until about six months of age.
But after the first few months keepers are usually able to see movement in the mother's pouch as the baby grows.
At around six months the joeys start to venture out of the pouch, and are usually too big to fit back in at around eight to nine months.
"These guys grow pretty quickly," she said.
"They stay with their mums for about a year and a half and by two they're sexually mature."
Ms Zeyrek said Bobby, 1, would be the last baby for mum Buttons, 11.
The wildlife park welcomed five joeys last year - Bobby, two other males and two females.
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