Come say “G’day” to a new pair of marsupials heading to Brookfield Zoo Chicago.
The zoo announced Tuesday that two male 2-year-old koalas named Brumby and Willum will be visible to guests starting May 24, just in time for Memorial Day weekend. The koalas are coming to the zoo through a loan partnership program with the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance and the San Diego Zoo’s Koala Education and Conservation Project.
Brumby and Willum (pictured) will be the first ever koalas to live at the zoo, making it the only accredited zoological organizati on in Illinois and one of 11 across North America where the public can see these animals. | Courtesy of the San Diego Zoo 
The markings on Brumby’s nose could help zoo guests tell him apart from Willum. | Courtesy of the San Diego Zoo 
Koalas like Willum sleep for up to 22 hours each day to conserve energy between meals of eucalyptus leaves. | Courtesy of the San Diego Zoo 
Brumby (pictured) and Willum are at Brookfield Zoo Chicago through a loan partnership program with the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. | Courtesy of the San Diego Zoo
Brumby and Willum will be the first ever koalas to live at the zoo, making it the only accredited zoological organization in Illinois and one of 11 across North America where the public can see these animals.
According to the zoo, the International Union for Conservation and Nature lists koalas as a vulnerable species in Australia, where they can be found natively. Koalas are one of the only animals that eat eucalyptus leaves, which are poisonous to most other animals, so the zoo will receive semiweekly rotations of fresh leaves for its koalas.
The koalas will join many of the zoo’s other species in its animal adoption program, where anyone can donate to the zoo to receive a personalized certificate of adoption, a color photograph of an animal of the species they’re adopting, a sheet of facts on the species, and more.