Bristol Zoo release pictures of tiny mouse deer smaller than a pencil
Bristol Zoo says its new mouse deer is "thriving".
Bristol Zoo has released pictures of one of its newest arrivals.
The mouse deer is thriving at Bristol Zoo Gardens after being born during the third national lockdown.
The delicate lesser Malayan mouse deer stands at around 20cm tall to its shoulder - around the same height as a standard pencil.
The infant, whose gender is not yet known, was born to first-time mother Brienne, and father Jorah, almost a month ago inside their enclosure alongside the Zoo’s Livingstone’s fruit bats.
It is the second to be born at the Zoo in the past decade. In 2020, a female named Missandei was born and moved on to Ouwehands Zoo in the Netherlands to continue the breeding programme for the species.
Paige Bwye, senior mammal keeper at Bristol Zoo, said: “Brienne is being a fantastic first-time mother and has been very attentive to her infant. It will be a little while until we are able to determine the gender of the fawn as they’re so small and quite shy. It’s doing really well though, and has recently started to discover new tastes, such as sweet potato.
“They are absolutely fascinating to watch. They move around on their pencil-thin legs and munch on flowers and vegetables.”
The fawn’s mother, seven-year-old Brienne, joined Bristol Zoo Gardens in 2014 from Newquay Zoo to breed with Jorah, aged four. The fawn is Jorah’s second offspring.
When it is fully grown, the infant will weigh around 1.5kg (around 3lbs).
Mouse deer are distantly related to deer and feed on flowers and vegetable matter, roaming the forests in their native South East Asia.
Bristol Zoo Gardens and Wild Place Project are run by Bristol Zoological Society which is a conservation and education charity.
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