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Queens Zoo News
A Pudu Pairing
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Napoleon, the Queens Zoo’s new pudu
©WCS/J.Maher
| Make (a little) room for Napoleon! Even the smallest deer deserves a big welcome at the Queens Zoo. The zoo’s resident pudu Marilyn now has a mate to share her new habitat, and the two seem like a good match. The exhibit’s lush plantings are well suited to these South American forest-dwellers, native to the savannas and rain forests of Argentina and Chile. Marilyn and Napoleon use their habitat’s trees for shelter and browse—a good snack for the herbivorous pudu, which eats a diet of twigs, leaves, shoots, and other vegetation.
Standing only 14–18 inches high at the shoulder and weighing 14–30 pounds, pudu are smaller than any other deer species in the world. One consequence of being so little is that they are easy targets for forest predators, such as the puma and fox. As a result, the pudu is a master of self-defense—a good jumper, runner, and climber. When fleeing from pursuers, this mighty mini-deer can scramble up leaning tree trunks and run in a zigzag pattern that’s hard to follow. Pudu also bark in alarm when threatened. Lucky for Marilyn and Napoleon, their exhibit is a safe distant from Felix and Cleo, the Queens Zoo’s resident pumas!
Like all deer, pudu are ruminant animals. After they eat, they lie down and chew their cud in the shade, just like a cow. Pudu are most active at dawn and dusk, when they travel the forest floor in search of forage. They are territorial, spending most of their time in pairs or alone, and marking their turf with a scent trail. This signals their presence to other pudu that cross their path. An endangered species, the pudu is threatened by destruction of the southern temperate rain forests where it lives.
The new pudu exhibit is already a Zoo favorite. Marilyn has always been very fond of her keeper, Marcos Garcia. However, with the introduction of Napoleon, Marcos has taken second place! Will there be the pitter-patter of little hooves in the future? Stay tuned.
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