PHOTOS: Rare White Koala Joey Born At Australia Zoo

Australia Zoo has a new resident: a rare white baby koala. The joey has caused excitement in Oz because she is lighter-colored than her siblings.

The new koala, who has yet to be named, was born to parents Tia and Slater in January “and is now venturing out into the world from the safety of her mum’s pouch,” Australia’s tourism website reported. Out of 12 joeys born at the zoo this season, this koala is the only white one.

Koalas, which are marsupials not bears, putting them in the same family as kangaroos, opossums, wallabies and Tasmanian devils, generally have fur that ranges between light gray and brown. Just like albinism in humans makes for light skin and hair, similar genetic traits can cause a light appearance in an animal like a koala. But according to Tourism Australia, “the little pale joey is not strictly albino.”

“If she was, her nose and eyes would be pink,” the group said. But not being classified as an albino koala makes the joey even more unique. “Australia Zoo says it would be less unusual to see an albino koala and the fact that this little girl’s eyes and nose are the usual brown/black while her fur is so light is very unusual.”

According to Tourism Australia, genetics are still at play here: Her mom Tia has previously birthed paler joeys — although none with fur as white as this one.

“In veterinary science it’s often referred to as the ‘silvering gene’ where animals are born with white or very pale fur and, just like baby teeth, they eventually shed their baby fur and the regular adult colouration comes through,” zoo wildlife hospital director Rosie Booth said, according to Agence France Presse.

The new baby is the first white koala for the zoo, which is located in Queensland, and is on display with her mom.

According to Booth, a zoo is safer for a white koala than the wild because the hair color makes it easier for predators to spot them.

The white joey was not the first rare, light-colored animal to make waves in the last few weeks. Images of a pink dolphin flipping around a Louisiana lake went viral earlier this month. A woman taking a boat cruise through the Calcasieu Ship Channel, near Hackberry, with her husband had spotted the albino bottlenose dolphin playing in front of a ship, along with some of its gray-colored friends.

Albino dolphins are an “extreme rarity,” the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said in a 2016 report. Without any skin pigment, they can appear white or pink.

The one seen playing with a ship earlier this month is notorious in that area of the United States, after first being photographed 10 years ago in southwestern Louisiana. Some of its fans have dubbed it “Pinky.”

The white joey at the Australia Zoo might also soon have a name that pays tribute to its rare color — both the zoo and Tourism Australia are asking for name suggestions from the public.