Baby antelope survives

She is just a few inches tall but Chester Zoo’s newest arrival, Aluna the Kirk’s dik-dik antelope, is already making a big impression.
By The Newsroom
Published 13th Mar 2013, 00:01 BST
Curator of Mammals at Chester Zoo Tim Rowlands at home, hand rearing a baby Dik Dik which was abandoned by its mother.Curator of Mammals at Chester Zoo Tim Rowlands at home, hand rearing a baby Dik Dik which was abandoned by its mother.
Curator of Mammals at Chester Zoo Tim Rowlands at home, hand rearing a baby Dik Dik which was abandoned by its mother.

The youngster, who was born two weeks ago, is being bottle-fed by her keeper after she was unable to bond with her mother.

Aluna, who stands 8in (22cm) high, will get a helping hand until she is old enough to tuck into a diet of buds, shoots and fruit on her own.

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Playing “parent” to the zoo’s tiny addition is keeper Tim Rowlands.

He said: “Our little one is growing stronger and stronger by the day and, all being well, it shouldn’t be too long until she’ll be able to really hold her own.

Kirk’s dik-dik are one of the world’s smallest antelope species and live in Kenya, Tanzania and Namibia. The animal gets its name from the noise it makes when running for cover.

Related topics:Kenya