Six inch tall deer born at Chester Zoo

Chester Zoo has welcomed a rare baby Southern pudu – one of the world’s smallest species of deer. 

The tiny male fawn, named by his keepers as Paolo, weighed less than a bag of sugar (900g) at birth and stood at little over six inches tall – similar in size to a guinea pig. Small mammal experts at the zoo say he will only grow to around 18 inches (1.5ft) tall when fully developed. 

Born to parents Serena and Oden, the baby deer is part of an international conservation breeding programme working to ensure a genetically viable insurance population in zoos to help with the long-term protection of the species.

Southern pudus are native to rainforest areas in southern Chile and south-western Argentina where they are listed as near-threatened by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), meaning the species could face an uncertain future.

Conservationists believe the number of pudus in the wild has declined rapidly in recent decades, largely due to loss of its rainforest habitat and illegal poaching.