NewsPalm Beach CountyRegion C Palm Beach CountyWest Palm Beach

Actions

Palm Beach Zoo welcomes koala named Katherine from Los Angeles

Posted at 9:39 AM, Aug 16, 2017
and last updated 2017-08-16 16:43:29-04

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — The Palm Beach Zoo is welcoming a female koala from the Los Angeles Zoo.

Zoo curator Nancy Nill said in a news release that Katherine the koala is part of the Species Survival Plan. She made her coast-to-coast journey on a commercial flight and will be quarantined for 30 days, which is mandatory for all incoming animals at the West Palm Beach zoo.

Nill says the quarantine will take place in an area that's adjacent to the zoo's Koala Forest habitat. Guests will be able to see Katherine during this time.

After the quarantine period, she'll meet Oz, the zoo's male koala who arrived in May 2010 from the Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia, South Carolina. Nill says zoo officials "can't wait to see the relationship between these two develop."