Endangered small deer gives birth to tiny fawn

A New York zoo this week announced the birth of a southern pudu, a member of an endangered species that also happens to be the world's smallest deer. The new arrival was born May 3 at the Queens Zoo, the New York Daily News reported. The birth was not made public for more than two months. "She's adjusting really well," Barbara Russo, a spokeswoman for the Wildlife Conservation Society, said Monday. "She's very cute and still nursing. She will eventually transition to solid foods." The society operates the zoo, where the new arrival can now be seen by the public in an exhibit with her mother, Josephine, and father, Hamilton. The baby still does not have a name. The pudu weighed a pound when she was born. She can expect to grow to about 20 pounds and to stand about 12 to 14 inches high at the shoulder. The southern pudu is one of two species in its genus and is found in Chile and Argentina. Its cousin, the slightly smaller northern pudu, is found in Colombia, Peru and Ecuador.