In need of some cute content?
Spring is here and it seems outdoor terraces aren’t the only positive thing appearing this season as Bristol Zoo Gardens has released pics and video footage of a tiny mouse deer born during lockdown at the zoo. And it is super adorable!
Despite its deceivingly long legs, the delicate lesser Malayan mouse deer stands at around 20cm (8 inches) 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 at Bristol Zoo.
It is the second mouse deer to be born at Bristol Zoo in the past decade. In 2020, a female named Missandei was born and moved on to Ouwehands Zoo in the Netherlands, as part of a breeding programme for the species. Mouse deer are native to South East Asia and when fully grown the infant will weigh about 3lb (1.5kg).
Paige Bwye, senior mammal keeper, 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 zoo has also welcomed a number of new arrivals in the past few months including a baby gorilla which was born in October and has now been named Hasani. Towards the end of last year, Bristol Zoo Gardens also announced it would be leaving its Clifton site after 185 years and moving to a site in South Gloucestershire.
[Featured Image: Bristol Zoo Gardens]