Bay blues

Science World, March 31, 2008 by Tara Brono

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Koalas have more in common than a hankering for eucalyptus leaves--their sole food source: They all have brown eyes. That is until Frankie, the world's first known blue-eyed koala, was born recently at Australia's Dreamworld theme park.

Because Frankie is a marsupial, he spent six months developing in his mother's pouch after he was born. It

wasn't until he crawled out last January that his keepers first saw his baby blues. Shocked by his unusual eyes, vets gave the young koala an eye exam.

Frankie's eyes checked out fine; his irises (the colored part of the eyes) just have little or no pigmentation. But his peepers' lack of color has made Frankie a main park attraction.