A Pudu deer was born at a New York City zoo recently. The Pudu deer is the world's smallest deer species and it is also endangered.
According to the Wildlife Conserbation Society, the endangered southern pudu was born at the Queens Zoo at Flushing Meadows-Corona Park last month. The tiny doe weighed just one pound when it was born on May 3, but it could grow to weight a total of 20 pounds as an adult.
"She's adjusting really well," Barbara Russo, a spokeswoman for the Wildlife Conservation Society, which runs the zoo, located at Flushing Meadows Corona Park told the New York Daily News. "She's very cute and still nursing. She will eventually transition to solid foods."
The baby deer is sharing an exhibit with its mother, Josephine, and father, Hamilton.
The Southern pudu, pronounced POO'-doo, is native to Chile and Argentina. This rare deer barks when it senses danger. They're skilled jumpers, sprinters and climbers, despite being only 12 to 14 inches tall. As another survivor skill, the pudu deer also runs in a zigzag pattern to escape predators.
Scientists from The Wildlife Conservation Society, which runs the zoo, is trying to preserve the deer's native South American habitats.
The newborn deer is still nursing but it will soon transition to a diet of fresh leaves, grains, kale, carrots and hay, the society reported.
There is another species of pudu called the northern pudu from regions around Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. The northern pudu population is also on the decline.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
