The Newest, Cutest Baby Animals from the World's Zoos & Aquariums
A Muntjac, sometimes called a Barking Deer, is the oldest known species of deer. The Muntjac first appeared some 15 to 35 million years ago in Germany, France, and Poland, but its current range is South Asia including Sri Lanka, China, Taiwan, Japan, India and Indonesia. A.J. Haverkamp photographed this baby Muntjac at Amsterdam's Artis Zoo just days ago.
Photo credits: A.J. Haverkamp
In early April the Belfast Zoo welcomed a Southern Pudu baby, the aptly named "Pequeño!" The smallest member of the deer family, the Southern Pudu measures only 17 inches (43 centimeters) in adulthood. That's one tiny deer! At birth the fawn was so small that it was the same weight as a pint of milk! Zoo manager, Mark Challis, is delighted with the newest arrival “Southern Pudus are facing a high risk of extinction in the wild so the birth of the fawn is extremely important. Southern Pudus originate from the dense lowland forests of South Chile and South-west Argentina and as Spanish is the native language we have named the fawn, ‘Pequeño’ which means small.”
Currently there are just 70 pudu kept in European zoo’s, the European breeding programme is managed by zoologists in Wuppertal Zoo. This recent addition brings the total number of Southern Pudus at Belfast Zoo to four! Visitors can easily spot Pequeño as fawns have white spots, which provide camouflage.
Photo credits: Ken Bohn / San Diego Zoo
Three-month-old Boris quickly slurps down a bottle before prancing through his exhibit at the San Diego Zoo. San Diego Zoo keepers expect to wean the reindeer from his bottle on Christmas Day, one of the 365 days a year the Zoo is open. The little Reindeer was a surprise when he was born at the Zoo on Sept. 18 in an exclusively female Reindeer exhibit. (Scientists do not believe there was any miracle involved, though; Boris’ mother was just unexpectedly pregnant when she arrived at the Zoo in May.)
More [PHOTOS] below the fold…
Twycross Zoo is the only collection in the UK to exhibit and now breed the rare Tufted deer. The small male fawn was born on 16th June 09 and weighed 1.5 kg at birth which is smaller than a bag of sugar. Mother “Michelle” and father “Mitch” have been exceptional at rearing their first offspring.
Growing only slightly bigger than a large goat, European Fallow Deer are beautiful creatures that retain their white spots into adulthood. Native to Southern Europe along the Mediterranean, these fawns were born in Dec. of 2008 at the Mogo Zoo in Australia. Pictures provided by PsiberTek Photography.
The Eld's deer is endangered in its native home of Southeast Asia with fewer than 2,000 remaining in the wild. This little girl and her mother are doing well and will join a herd of 14 females at the National Zoo's Conservation Research Center in a few months.
