U.S. zoo brings in koala from France for mating

updated 5:09 p.m. ET July 21, 2009

CLEVELAND - Talk about long-distance romance: a male koala from France has arrived to mate with two females at the zoo in Cleveland.

Cleveland Metroparks Zoo Director Steve Taylor says the hope is Bulkee will help the facility continue its successful koala breeding program. Officials announced on Tuesday that the 5-year-old male marsupial is now on display at the Midwestern zoo's GumLeaf Hideout.

The females, Colliet and Midgee, have given birth to 12 offspring since 1999. The zoo says they seem interested in their new male suitor.

Bulkee comes from the ZooParc de Beauval in central France. He was sent to the U.S. earlier this year and was quarantined at the San Diego Zoo before going on to Ohio, the state where Cleveland is located.

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