The First State’s newest four-legged Delawarean calls the Brandywine Zoo his home.
On Aug. 4, the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) and the Brandywine Zoo announced the birth of a baby pudu on July 12.
The baby pudu – which has yet to be named – was born to resident parents Clover, a female Southern pudu, and Ande, a male Southern pudu at the zoo, weighing 20 ounces (four times the size of a hamster).
Both clover and the baby are doing well, according to a joint statement from DNREC and the Brandywine Zoo, and the new fawn is recognized as a “significant contribution to the North American pudu population.”
The good news comes just over a year since two-year-old Clover, a zoo resident since April 2021, lost her male companion, Haechan, in June 2022, when he died only six months after arriving in Delaware from the Los Angeles Zoo in hopes of mating as part of the Species Survival Program.
Two-year-old Ande joined the Brandywine Zoo in November 2022 from the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle, Washington.
When the baby fawn was announced, fans of the Brandywine Zoo took to social media to share their excitement, flooding the post with smiley faces and hearts.
“Congratulations to Ande and Clover! So cute,” a Facebook comment read.
“I see a zoo visit in my near future. Just lovely,” a Facebook user said.
“So stinkin’ cute! Congrats to the zoo staff!” read another comment.
Pudu facts
Southern pudu are the second smallest deer in the world at 14 to 17 inches at shoulder height, and there are fewer than 10,000 left in the wild in Argentina and Chile.
The species is considered “near threatened” by conservation organizations and is experiencing a population decline because of the threats they face from habitat loss due to logging, and agriculture, feral dogs and poaching for the pet trade.
DNREC and the Brandywine Zoo report that there are only 45 pudu at 15 institutions involved in the Species Survival Plan, nine of which are males, making the local pudu fawn a grand celebration.
New animals at the Brandywine Zoo
Aside from the new pudu on the block, the Brandywine Zoo has welcomed a few new guests recently.
A female Hoffman’s two-toed sloth was acquired in May and is housed in the South American exhibit with ducks, ibis and capybara.
In June, two yearling binturongs, also known as southeast Asian bearcats, were received from a zoo in Michigan. These animals are tree-dwellers and one of the only two carnivores with a prehensile tail.
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Both species have seen a population decline in the wild.
Got a tip or a story idea? Contact Krys’tal Griffin at kgriffin@delawareonline.com.
