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World’s smallest deer born at Queens Zoo

_Julie Larsen Maher 2083 Southern Pudu QZ 06 29 13
Photos courtesy of WCS/Julie Larsen Maher

The Queens Zoo recently welcomed a new edition, an endangered southern pudu—the world’s smallest deer.

Weighing one pound at birth, the yet-to-be-named doe is still nursing, but will soon start eating fresh leaves, grain, kale, carrots and hay, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS).

Once it stops growing, it will be 12 to 14 inches at its shoulder and weigh as much as 20 pounds.

Native to Chile and Argentina, southern pudu make up for their small stature in other ways, according to the WCS. They bark when they sense danger, can climb fallen trees and when chased by predators run in a zig-zag pattern.

 

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