Story By: Michael Leidig / newsX
Zoo goers have plenty to fawn over after a tiny African antelope from one of the world’s smallest species was born just before Christmas at the world’s oldest zoo in the Austrian capital Vienna.
The newborn is a Kirk Dikdik and joins another young calf already at the zoo, with visitors able to see the animals near the elephant house during the festive period at Tiergarten Schonbrunn.
Tiergarten Schonbrunn/Newsflash
The video shows the small antelope calves remaining close to cover in their enclosure but also slowly beginning to explore their surroundings.
Zoo staff said the new calf was born on Tuesday, while a second youngster arrived earlier on 5th December, meaning two babies are currently being raised.
Fully grown Kirk Dikdiks reach only the size of a rabbit, which makes the newborn among the tiniest hoofed animals kept by the zoo.
Visitors can see the young antelopes every day from 9:00 to 16:30 over the Christmas holidays, although zoo staff say patience is required.
Zoo director Dr Stephan Hering-Hagenbeck said: “Kirk Dikdiks are so called hiders, and in their first weeks of life the young usually lie well hidden in the grass away from predators.”
He added: “The mother regularly visits them to nurse them, but the young animals are already following their parents through the enclosure from time to time.”
The zoo has spent a long period carefully assembling suitable breeding animals to establish a stable group.
Curator Dr Folko Balfanz said: “Our group now consists of two females and one male, and all three get along very well with each other.”
He added: “That is why we were able to celebrate our very first offspring a year ago.”
Dr Balfanz said breeding has continued successfully since then, with another calf born earlier this month.
He explained: “After a gestation period of just under six months, a single calf is born weighing about half a kilogramme.”
Dr Balfanz added: “The calf is nursed for six to eight weeks.”
He also said: “The tiny Dikdiks are easy prey for leopards, wild dogs, and birds of prey.”
Dr Balfanz explained the source of the strange name saying: “If the animals detect potential predators, they emit an alarm call that sounds like a high-frequency ‘dsik-dsik’ sound.”
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