Baby Pudu, World's Smallest Deer, Born at Queens Zoo
Posted on July 12, 2013
An endangered southern pudu, (Pudu puda), was born at the Wildlife Conservation Society's Queens Zoo. The southern pudu, native to Chile and Argentina, is the world's smallest deer. Southern pudu are designated vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The young doe weighed 1 pound at birth. The WCS says the deer could weigh as much as 20 pounds as an adult. The fawn is still nursing. It will soon begin a diet of fresh leaves, grain, kale, carrots and hay.
The WCS says the little pudu have some extraordinary characteristics. They can climb fallen trees and they are excellent jumpers and sprinters despite their samll size, only 12 to 14 inches at the shoulder. Pudu bark when they sense danger. They also have a special escape strategy. When pudu are being chased they start running in a zig-zag pattern to get away.