ZooBorns

Diminutive Duikers Give Birth to Descendant!

Look closely, or you might just miss this tiny baby Duiker, born Saturday April 21 to first time mom Peanut and dad Cinco at Virginia Zoo. The baby, named Todd, weighs just one pound and is about the size of a Guinea pig! “This is Peanut’s first baby, and she seems to be doing a great job,” noted zookeeper Aubry Hall.  

Blue Duikers are found in the forests of  Central and South Africa. They can weigh  nearly 12 pounds and stand just shy of 16 inches tall at the shoulder. Their brown coat has a slight blue tinge.  The name "Duiker" is Dutch  for "diver" and Duikers use their long hind legs and short forelegs to dive into the underbrush when threatened. 

Photo credit: Virginia Zoo

Baby Black Duiker Gets Her Close-up

On July 6, 2011 a baby Black Duiker was born at Columbus Zoo and Aquarium to parents Chelsea and Kringle. This was a very important birth because it's so rare. This baby brings the population of Black Duikers in Zoos to a total of only 17!  While it is believed that there are 100,000 Black Duikers in the world today, their numbers are in decline due to hunting.

The baby doesn't yet have a name because it's keepers are waiting on gender confirmation, but it may be able to be seen by Zoo guests, as it has access to the yard area in it's parent's habitat. These photos taken August 9 give us a good look at an even better hair day!

Photo credits: Grahm S. Jones, Columbus Zoo and Aquarium

Duikers Close-up with a Wide Angle Lens...

Meet Komet, a Yellow-backed Duiker born in early December 9th at the Houston Zoo. These large and gentle antelope live in the rainforests of central and western Africa. When they are alarmed, they flash a vivid yellow wedge of hair on their backs. While duikers are primarily vegetarians, they will eat insects from time to time and have even been observed stalking and eating rodents and small birds!

Mama Duiker at the Houston Zoo Photo credits: First image, Laurie McGivern, Hoof Stock Supervisor, second and third images Stephanie Adam / Houston Zoo

Oregon Zoo's Newest: A Tiny Baby Duiker

One of the Oregon Zoo's newest and smallest four-legged babies recently made his debut. A 2-month-old red-flanked duiker is now on exhibit with his mother in the zoo's Africa Rain Forest area. Duikers are among the smallest of antelope species and generally weigh only 20 to 26 pounds when fully grown.

 

Photo credits: Carli Davidson / Oregon Zoo

What's a Duiker?

Shy creatures that prefer to stay in the brush, duiker are small antelope from Sub-Saharan Africa. This little fellow was born at the LA Zoo on January 9th. While duiker feed primarily on leaves, buds, seeds, fruit and bark, they also will eat protein given the opportunity, and have been observed stalking and eating small rodents.

 

Photo credit Tad Motoyama / LA Zoo

"Duiker" means "dive" in Afrikaans, so named because of their tendency to dive into cover when startled.