CORONA — The Queens Zoo welcomed a tiny new addition last month: a rare baby fawn that's one of the world's smallest deer species.
The female southern pudu was born April 29 weighing just one pound, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society. A fawn of the same species was also born at the zoo last year.
The baby deer is still nursing, but will soon start a diet of leaves, grain, kale carrots and hay, and could weigh up to 20 pounds as an adult, the zoo said. Pudus stand 12 to 14 inches at the shoulder when fully grown.
The deer is the latest to be born at the zoo, following another pudu that was born there last summer.
The small-statured pudu are solitary animals that like to hide in thick vegetation, and are known to be excellent jumpers and sprinters. They bark when they sense danger, and run in a zig-zag pattern to escape predators.
The southern pudu is native to Chile and Argentina and is a vulnerable species, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society.
