Milwaukee Zoo to House 2 S.D. Koalas

MILWAUKEE — The Milwaukee County Zoo will become home to a couple of koalas next summer, making the menagerie one of less than a dozen to house the marsupial, the zoo’s director said.

The animals, on permanent loan from the San Diego Zoo, are expected to be the star attraction at the newly renovated Australian Building when it opens in August, Charles Wikenhauser said.

The koalas will cost $12,000 a year each to feed because they eat only fresh eucalyptus leaves that must be flown in from California or Florida twice weekly, Wikenhauser said.

The food bill will be paid by the Zoological Society of Milwaukee County, the zoo’s private support group.

The last time the zoo featured a koala, for a single month in 1985, zoo officials estimated it drew 80,000 extra visitors and generated $300,000 in revenue.

Ayers, the koala that appeared at the zoo six years ago, also was owned by the San Diego Zoo, but died of pneumonia a month after returning home.

Ayers’ fate notwithstanding, koalas are not particularly prone to ill health, Wikenhauser said.

“You do have to observe them closely and weigh them often to make sure they’re healthy,” Wikenhauser said.

“They’re so sedate that it’s hard to recognize changes,” he said.

A Milwaukee zookeeper will be sent to San Diego next year to learn how to care for the koalas, Wikenhauser said, adding that he hopes to receive a pair suitable for breeding.

The $200,000 renovation of the Australian Building is part of the Milwaukee County Zoo’s $26-million capital expansion project, financed equally by the county and the zoo society.