Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by Gigi Allianic, Communications Photos: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo Pudu Maggie with the fawn she had in 2022 Woodland Park Zoo is mourning the loss of its female pudu, Maggie. The 7-year-old animal passed away while recovering from anesthesia following a routine tooth extraction at the zoo’s veterinary hospital. Pudu are the smallest deer species in the world and are native to South America. The small deer stands only 14 to 18 inches high at the shoulder and weighs between 14 and 30 pounds. The median life expectancy for pudus in zoos is 8 years old; pudus can live 8 to 10 years old in the wild. Maggie was barely bigger than a pumpkin. Adult pudu are only 12" - 18" high at the shoulder and weigh between 14 - 30lbs. “The tooth was extracted without complications and Maggie did well under anesthesia. She was being closely monitored as she began to recover,” said Dr. Yousuf Jafarey, an associate veterinarian at Woodland Park Zoo. “As her recovery progressed,...

Posted by Craig Newberry, Communications Soooo cute! The Woodland Park Zoo family just got cuter with the arrival of a tiny male pudu fawn. Pudu are the smallest deer species in the world and are native to South America.  Photo by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo The fawn, which has yet to be named, was born May 2 to parents Ted and Maggie. The birth is the pudus' fifth offspring together since they were paired under the Pudu Species Survival Plan , a cooperative breeding program across accredited zoos to help ensure a healthy, self-sustaining population of the species.  The fawn's father, Ted, is 8 years old and arrived at the zoo in 2017. The mother, Maggie, 7, came in 2018. The pair of pudu are now parents to four males and one female. All three of their previous male fawns were sent to accredited zoos across the country based on breeding recommendations created by the SSP. The female, born last year, still lives at Woodland Park Zoo. Photo by Megan Blandford/Wo...

Posted by Craig Newberry, Communications Photos by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo The Woodland Park Zoo family just got cuter with the arrival of a tiny female pudu fawn. Pudus are the smallest deer species in the world and are native to South America. The fawn, which has yet to be named, was born May 5 to parents Ted and Maggie. The birth is the pudus' fourth offspring together since they were paired under the Pudu Species Survival Plan , a cooperative breeding program across accredited zoos to help ensure a healthy, self-sustaining population of the species. The fawn's father, Ted, is 7 years old and arrived at the zoo in 2017. The mother, Maggie, 6, came in 2018. This is the pair’s first female fawn. All three of their male fawns now live at accredited zoos across the country and are doing well. “We are very excited to have the first female pudu birth at the zoo since 2010. The fawn is healthy and continues to get more comfortable exploring the habitat,” said Shawn...

Post by Craig Newberry, Communications  Photos by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren, Woodland Park Zoo We are welcoming the newest member of pudu family, a tiny male fawn. Pudus are the smallest deer species in the world and are native to South America.  The fawn, which has yet to be named, was born May 5 to parents Ted and Maggie. The birth is the pudus' third offspring together since they were paired under the Pudu Species Survival Plan , a cooperative breeding program across accredited zoos to help ensure a healthy, self-sustaining population of the species. The fawn's father, Ted, is nearly 6 years old and arrived at the zoo in 2017. The mother, Maggie, 5, came in 2018. Their first offspring, Chile, was born in 2020 and now lives at the Queens Zoo in New York. The second offspring born last year, Ande, remains at Woodland Park Zoo. “The fawn and mother are healthy and bonding well. We’re confident their bonding will continue as the fawn gets more comfortable exploring his habitat,” sa...

Posted by Meghan Sawyer, Communications Photos, Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren Hello, Ande! World, meet Ande! Woodland Park Zoo’s baby Southern pudu, a male born in July , officially has a name. While Ande may be one of the world’s smallest deer, he’s actually named after the second-highest mountain range in the world—the Andes Mountains! It’s also where pudu like Ande are native to. Watch a video announcing the name here:  https://youtu.be/qAQD-zwI6TY Ande is growing very quickly! At about 2 months old, he’s already half as big as his parents. But even fully grown, pudu are only about 15 inches tall. Some of his favorite snacks are romaine lettuce, banana peels and nutritional grain. The spots on his coat have already started to fade and will continue to fade as he grows and matures into his adult coat. Ande loves snacking on romaine, in addition to banana peels and grain. Ande was named by Ellie Woodall, a budding animal lover from Richland, Wash., whose grandparents have been great zoo s...

Posted by Meghan Sawyer, Communications Welcome to the world, little one. Photo: John Loughlin/Woodland Park Zoo Say hello to the newest member of our zoo family! Born July 11, this male pudu fawn weighed just 1½ pounds at birth. The yet-to-be-named baby and his parents, Ted and Maggie, are all happy and healthy. This adorable species is native to South America, and they are the world’s smallest deer. Even when fully grown, they only reach about 15 inches tall! Photo: Megan Blandford/Woodland Park Zoo “This is the second fawn for mom and dad, and as expected, everyone is doing well,” said Shawn Pedersen, an animal care manager at Woodland Park Zoo. “Baby is nursing and bonding with mom, and the fawn has met all of the healthy benchmarks at its neonatal exam. We’ll continue to keep an eye on the new family, but everything is going great.” The pudu parents were paired under the Pudu Species Survival Plan , a cooperative, conservation breeding program across accredited zoos to help ensure...

Posted by Gigi Allianic, Communications Photos by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo We are teeming with new babies this spring! The newest members of the family are a male pudu fawn and a female mountain goat kid. The new babies join the burgeoning population of other babies born or hatched at the zoo since March including a gorilla, a pair of agoutis, a couple of penguins, two scaly-sided mergansers, and a wallaby and wallaroo. Pudu fawn peeking out from the spring grass. Pudus are the smallest deer species in the world and are native to South America. The new pudu fawn was born May 14 to first-time parents Maggie and Ted. The last pudu birth at the zoo was 10 years ago. “The new mom is providing good maternal care to her fawn. We’re pleased he’s nursing and mom and fawn are bonding,” says Mark Myers, an animal curator at Woodland Park Zoo. “We’ll continue to monitor the new family closely.” The pudus live in the zoo’s Temperate Forest habitat. The pudu parents ...

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications When you’re the world’s smallest deer, you need a decent predator escape plan in your repertoire. Photo by Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo. If a pudu is threatened, it will run in a zigzag pattern to throw off and confuse its pursuer.