| The baby "joey" is blind, hairless, less than
one inch long and weighs less than one gram.
Without help it crawls into its mothers pouch,
relying on its sense of smell, claws and strong forelimbs.
The young "joey" drinks only mother's milk for
the first six to seven months.
At about 30 weeks, it begins to feed upon a
substance called "pap", which the mother produces in addition to
milk.
"Pap" is a specialized form of droppings which
is a very important part of the baby koalas diet, allowing it to
make the transition from milk to eucalyptus leaves.
Pap is soft and runny. It allows the
mother to pass on micro-organisms from her digestive system.
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