Tiny Mouse Deer Born at England's Bristol Zoo Stands at the 'Height of a Pencil'
bristol zoo gardens / Facebook
An England zoo has welcomed a tiny new animal to its pack.
Last month, a delicate lesser Malayan mouse deer was born at England's Bristol Zoo Gardens to first-time mother Brienne, and father Jorah, according to a news release.
The baby animal, whose sex has yet to be determined, is the second mouse deer born at the zoo in the past decade. Last year, a female mouse deer was born at the zoo and then later transferred to Ouwehands Zoo in the Netherlands.
The newborn currently stands at around 8 inches tall, roughly the height of a pencil. When the little creature is fully grown, they will weigh around 3 lbs.
We have another new arrival!
This is a lesser Malayan mouse deer & is around the same height as a standard pencil. ✏️
The infant was born to mother Brienne & father Jorah, almost a month ago inside their enclosure alongside our Livingstone’s fruit bats:https://t.co/w2xuTYR1Ar pic.twitter.com/w9Zxqlvklu— Bristol Zoo Gardens (@BristolZooGdns) April 22, 2021
Brienne, the infant's mother, is 7 years old and joined Bristol Zoo Gardens in 2014 from Newquay Zoo to breed with 4-year-old Jorah. The newborn mouse deer is Jorah's second baby.
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"Brienne is being a fantastic first-time mother and has been very attentive to her infant," Paige Bwye, a senior mammal keeper at the zoo, said.
Bwye noted that it will take time for zoo staff to determine the baby mouse deer's sex 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," she added. "They are absolutely fascinating to watch. They move around on their pencil-thin legs and munch on flowers and vegetables."
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According to the zoo, mouse deer are native to Southeast Asia and feed on flowers and vegetable matter.
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The zoo also debuted its new baby gorilla recently. Earlier this week, the zoo announced that the gorilla, born last December, has been named Juni after his mom and dad, Jock and Touni.
"This is a lovely way of recognizing both his parents and their part in helping to safeguard the future of western lowland gorillas," Lynsey Bugg, the Bristol Zoo's curator of mammals, said in a statement.
