Onyx was first seen and identified at Koala Gardens on 17th December 2023 in a tree right beside Hope She is a beautiful, healthy koala, so large that Katrina initially thought she was a boy! Her beautiful dark colouring influenced the name she was given.
One of the next times Katrina saw her she realized that Onyx indeed all female, as you can see for the photograph below. We all agree that her name still suits her completely.
Much to our delight, Onyx soon revealed another secret. She had a joey in pouch.
Onyx has now settled herself to using areas on the east side of the property, including the edges of the rainforest pocket and area with plenty of food and space for her raise her beautiful male joey, who has been named Jasper. We all think that this name suits him perfectly. He really is a little gem.
We loved watching Onyx raising Jasper at Koala Gardens. As the 2025 breeding season approached, jasper separated from Onyx, although we did still get to see him at Koala Gardens.
Imagine our delight when Onyx introduced to her 2025 joey, a girl who we named 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. Both were also found to be in excellent body condition and it was hoped that they would both respond to treatment. Onyx continued to raise Selene whilst they were in care.
Selene’s eye cleared up, however, during an examination in October it was discovered that Onyx’s condition had worsened at it was not possible to save her.
Whilst grieving the loss of her awesome mum, we were still hopeful for Selene. She was still too young to be released and remained in care to gain weight and prepare for life in the wild. Sadly, this was not to be. In December, she was discovered to have developed chlamydial cysts too and was also lost to this insidious disease.
We are all devastated at the loss of the incredible Onyx , who we had hoped to see have many more joeys at Koala Gardens, and her lovely joey Selene. At the same time we are grateful for the legacy Onyx left in her son Jasper, who has now dispersed from Koala Gardens and has hopefully found a home range where he can live wild and free and pass on his fabulous genes.
Onyx has lots of video (with and without her joeys) on YouTube and even has her very own playlist (below). She appears in the Koala Gardens Happenings for 2023, 2024 and 2025
Join the Colony and get involved
You can become part of the Koala Gardens Colony by adopting one of the resident 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.
