World’s Oldest Zoo Gives Koala Gourmets Eucalyptus Made In Austria Instead Of Australia

This is the moment two koala gourmets at the world’s oldest zoo tuck into eucalyptus grown in Austria’s Styria region as part of a trial to make their food supply more local.

The trial is taking place at Schoenbrunn Zoo in Vienna, Austria, after the zoo and Austrian company Frutura began testing locally grown eucalyptus in spring 2026.

Fresh eucalyptus leaves from selected varieties among the more than 600 known eucalyptus species are on the menu for the zoo’s two koalas every day, with each animal eating around 300 to 500 grammes.

The Styrian eucalyptus is being grown at two locations, with plants raised in pots inside greenhouses in Stainz near Straden and directly in the soil inside polytunnels in Bad Blumau.

The zoo currently sources part of its eucalyptus from Belgium and the UK, while some is already grown in Vienna’s Simmering district.

The long-term aim is to replace more of those imports with regional production and significantly shorten the transport distances needed to feed the animals.

Zoo director Stephan Hering-Hagenbeck said the project formed part of the zoo’s wider push to source animal food more sustainably and locally.

He said: "We focus on sustainability and regional sourcing for all our animal feed, from meat for our big cats and bamboo for our pandas from Burgenland to eucalyptus for our koalas.

"We already source some of our eucalyptus from Simmering, and that will continue. With additional eucalyptus from Styria, we could take another important step towards greater sustainability."

The first delivery of Styrian eucalyptus has already gone down well with the two koalas, although the animals are known to be extremely particular about what they eat.

Zoological curator Eveline Dungl said: "Koalas are real eucalyptus experts. They mainly eat young shoots because these contain fewer essential oils and toxic substances."

The animals also have individual preferences, meaning that growing enough eucalyptus is not simply a matter of producing any available variety.

Eveline said: "Of the more than 600 known eucalyptus species, they certainly do not eat all of them.

"In Australia, koalas usually find only four or five edible species within their territory.

"At the zoo, we deliberately offer them more than 30 species so the animals can choose for themselves what they want to eat."

Frutura is also growing a wide range of varieties in Styria, with more than 1,200 plants from 25 different eucalyptus species currently being cultivated across the two sites.

Frutura managing director Manfred Hohensinner said the company wanted to bring the same approach it uses for its other crops to the koalas’ food.

He said: "Just as it is our goal to produce the most flavoursome tomatoes in Austria, we also want to cultivate the most flavoursome eucalyptus."

The cooperation between Frutura and Schoenbrunn Zoo remains in its testing phase, with the results helping determine whether Styrian-grown eucalyptus can become a larger part of the koalas’ regular food supply.

(Marija Stojkoska/Newsflash)