Meet The Pudu!

We’re not going to lie ladies and gentlemen, this might be our most favorite animal name/adorable animal combination we’ve ever seen…introducing The Pudú! Native to the mountains and rainforests of Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, and Argentina, the Pudú is the world’s smallest deer! Also known as “The Chilean Mountain Goats”, Pudús are either one of two slightly different species, and their name is derived from the word that the Mapuche people of the region used to describe people from southern Chile. Being the smallest deer in the world, the Northern Pudú never grows more than fourteen inches tall at the shoulder and rarely weighs more than thirteen pounds; the slightly larger Southern Pudú only grows a few inches taller, but weighs twice as much. The difference in weight could be attributed to the differences in their diets, as the Southern Pudú lives at lower elevations and therefore has traditionally had more access to food to less of a strenuous lifestyle, while the Northern species has to traverse mountains all day. After a mama Pudú becomes pregnant, she carries her baby for about seven months, at which point usually only one Pudú pup is born weighing less than thirty-five ounces! That’s a tiny baby! Unfortunately, the destruction of their rainforest habitat has led to the Pudús being dangerously close to extinction. However, their are various conservation efforts in place to preserve this adorable species.