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Meet the 8 Animals Keeping NYC Cute

By Jess Hullinger | August 1, 2014 11:27am
 Barking deer, pot-bellied pigs, and cheese-hunting possums all call New York City home. 
8 Animals Keeping NYC Cute
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NEW YORK — New York may be a bustling metropolitan city, but it’s also full of a variety of cute critters, and some of them have been making headlines lately. From parakeets to pot-bellied pigs, here is a look at the furry, feathered and four-legged animals that call this concrete jungle home.

Piggie Smalls, Rescued Pot-Bellied Pig
The Brooklyn Cares Vet facility in Clinton Hill is the new home of an 8-pound micro pot-bellied pig named Piggie Smalls. He arrived from Central Florida, where he was neglected and lived on a diet of Cap’n Crunch and horse feed. Now he enjoys strawberries and greens, greets customers at the clinic and “snorts happily throughout the day.”

The Bronx Zoo’s Baby Gorillas
Until this year, it had been more than a decade since a baby gorilla was born at the Bronx Zoo. In the spring, it got two. Julia, 33, gave birth on March 10, and Tuti, 19, had her baby on April 17. The two newborn western lowland gorillas each weighed between 4 and 5 pounds but could grow to weigh as much as 450 pounds.

A 1-Pound Barking Deer
In April, the Queens Zoo welcomed a baby southern pudu, one of the world’s smallest deer species. The newborn weighed just 1 pound at birth but could hit 20 pounds when fully grown. The cutest part: These deer bark when they sense danger.

Lemi the Long-Lost Parakeet
In May, a bright yellow parakeet named Lemi escaped its Brooklyn Heights home, prompting a desperate 11-day search by its owner, Anette Somosi. Luckily, Lemi was found at Flatbush Avenue and Sterling Place sitting next to a sparrow, and good Samaritans helped reunite the bird with Somosi’s 8-year-old daughter, Monica. 

Patagonian Cavy Pups, Cael and Caela
These two Patagonian Cavy pups, named Cael and Caela, were born in the Staten Island Zoo in June. Cavies, which are native to Argentina, have long ears like jackrabbits and can run at speeds of up to 35 mph. Once they mate, they keep that partner for life.

Park Slope’s Cheese-Loving Possum
A baby possum was lured into a Park Slope gourmet cheese shop on July 22 and then got stuck behind a roll gate, only to be discovered when the shop’s owner mistook the critter’s tail for an onion ring.