About three weeks ago, he fell from her back. The infant was not seriously injured but was taken from his mother and placed in a nursery because zoo officials thought he was not getting enough nutrition. The joey weighed just 14.1 ounces, about half of what he should have weighed, zoo officials said. The koala's birth was a pleasant surprise for zookeepers. A tiny paw poked out of his mother's pouch in March, but keepers had a hunch by the end of January that a joey might be inside.
Koalas are marsupials, like kangaroos.
When born, they're about the size of a jelly bean and weigh just slightly more. Don Winstel, an assistant zoo director, said the koala's death has been difficult for zoo workers.