Koala Gardens has, over the years, been home to some amazing female koalas who have raised joeys on the property. When Katrina first started her regular observations of the colony two of these were Mist and Greta
Mist had been present at Koala Gardens since at least 2012. She was observed with joeys Enigma in 2017 and Krissy in 2018.
We know that Mist had joeys before and at least six joeys in total. She was seen with a joey in 2015, but left Koala Gardens just after the joey emerged and did not return until they had separated.
You can read more about Mist’s life at Koala Gardens here. She is also the star of the children’s books The Adventures of Mist published by Koala Gardens.
Although we lost Mist in 2018, her memory lives on at Koala gardens. She was one awesome koala!
Greta is believed to be the oldest koala recorded at Koala Gardens. A vet treating her in 2016, estimated her to be 10 or 11 years old at that time. It is thought that she may be the mother of former colony alpha male Jordan.
By 2017, Greta had moved her home range largely away from Koala Gardens, but did visit the property occasionally so we did get to see her with a joey in 2017 and 2018.
In February, 2019 at 14 years old she returned to Koala gardens again with another joey and was seen on the property 5 times. This is an amazing achievement for a wild koala of this age to still be breeding and successfully raising young.
What an incredible koala!
Read more about Greta here
2015 saw 3 females with joeys pass briefly through Koala Gardens. You can read more about Bertha, Corky and Sully here
2016 saw the arrival of the beautiful Maxine at Koala Gardens. She had likely just separated from her mum.
We believe that Legion is the father of Stella and possibly also of Dewdrop.
Sadly, Maxine moved off Koala Gardens before Katrina could get a photo of Max. You can read more about Maxine and her life at Koala Gardens here.
Late 2016 saw Stevie arrive at Koala Gardens. With her large, fluffy ears, she soon became a firm favourite, so we were delighted when, in 2018, she introduced her first joey, Frankie and then, in 2019 to Nick.
We think that Stevie may have had a further joey after she moved away from Koala Gardens, possibly fathered by Newman.
You can read more about Stevie here
Our final Koala Gardens mum for 2016 was Racee, who arrived in December of that year. Her first joey Karla was born in 2017, Zorro being the likely father. Subsequently Racee introduced us to Phoenix in 2018 and Smokey in 2019.
Phoenix was to go on to have two joeys at Koala Gardens herself.
You can read more about Racee and her life and legacy at Koala Gardens here.
We were to get two further tantalising glimpses of mums who would not go on to raise their joeys at Koala Gardens with the arrival of Krystal in September, 2019 with a joey in her lap and also of Angel in December of that year who by 2020 clearly had a joey in pouch.
In 2021 we were overjoyed when Phoenix, who was born at Koala Gardens in 2018 and raised there by mum Racee, had her own joey on the property, Luna. In 2022 we all welcomed her second joey Grace, whose father is possibly popular former colony member Bullet.
You can read more about Phoenix and her life and legacy at Koala Gardens here. What a dynasty!
Our next Koala gardens mum was the fabulous Ellie, who arrived on the property in 2020, having likely recently separated from her own mum. With her spectacularly large, fluffy ears, Ellie soon became a firm favourite. We were delighted when she had joey Eddie in 2022 and then Elmo in 2023.
We all hoped to see Ellie raise many more joeys at Koala Gardens, but sadly that was not to be and, in July 2024, she was lost, as are so many koalas, to chlamydia.
Ellie was an awesome mum who we miss a lot, but her legacy lives on in her boys.
You can read more about Ellie and her life at Koala Gardens here
Emma arrived at Koala Gardens in 2021, and although she only stayed for six days, during that time she had some close encounters with both Bullet and alpha male Hugo. This made it particularly exciting when she returned in 2022 with a male joey who we named Shine. The math works out!
You can read more about Emma and the time she spent at Koala Gardens here.
We first saw Pearl at Koala Gardens in 2022. It was not long before her gorgeous joey Hope emerged from her pouch for the first time. Watching them together was a total joy.
In early 2023 Pearl separated from Hope, leaving him at Koala Gardens. We think that Pearl moved to a neighbouring property also under koala habitat regeneration and has had at least one further joey there. Hope moved on during the 2024 dispersal season.
You can read more about Pearl here
Young Olivia, named by Katrina in honour of Australian icon Olivia Newton-John, who had recently passed, arrived at Koala Gardens in 2022. it was soon evident that she had a large joey in pouch. However she moved away before the joey emerged.
We hope that both Olivia and her joey went on to live happy and successful lives.
You can read more about Olivia and her time at Koala Gardens here
2023 Saw Bonnie pass through Koala Gardens with her back young Janis; Julie with her her joey Jo-jo, and June with her joey Baloo. You read more about their time at Koala Gardens here
2023 also saw Onyx arrive, named because of her dark fur, she soon became a favourite as she not only made made Koala Gardens her home, but in 2024 she introduced us to her beautiful joey Jasper, who we got to see grow up into a strong confident koala on the property. We think is a real gem!
You can read more about Onyx’s life at Koala Gardens here and Jasper’s here
Imagine our delight when Onyx introduced to her 2025 female joey Selene.
In August 2025, Katrina noticed that little Selene had developed signs of chlamydial conjunctivitis in one eye. As she was too small to be separated from Onyx, both were trapped and taken to the koala hospital. Upon examination Onyx was also found to have a small ovarian cyst, also a sign of chlamydia. Whilst initially both responded well to treatment, we were all devastated when both were eventually lost to this insidious disease.
Enya arrived at Koala Gardens in October, 2024 and to our delight we soon discovered that she had a joey in pouch. It wasn’t long before Eden emerged and started to explore her world under the ever watchful eye of her mum.
In 2026 Enya introduced us to her second joey, a boy we named Elliot
The story continues ….
Join the Colony and get involved
You can become part of the Koala Gardens Colony by adopting one of theresident wild koalas. You can also become a Patron, and one level has an adoption option.
Come and discuss Koala Gardens and all things koala on Discord. We hold lots of interesting and often in-depth discussions there. Lots of fun!
You will become part of the family and help provide much needed koala habitat.
You can also follow Katrina and the Koalas on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
Koala Gardens publishes a small number of delightful illustrated children’s books in the The Adventures of Mist series. Check out the beautifully engaging and educational design. Our mission is to help children to “Fall in love with Nature”.
You can even find some great Koala Gardens gifts over at Redbubble where there is a huge range of designs on an even bigger range of items.
Alternatively, you can find quick access links to everything Koala Gardens via Link Tree.
