NW Valley Times

A pair of male and female blue duikers (pronounced dye-kers) – a tiny antelope native to the forests of central, western and southern Africa – is the first of its species at Reid Park Zoo.

The two arrived as part of a breeding recommendation from their Species Survival Plan. Marigold, the larger female, is 10 months old and from the Maryland Zoo, and Viazi, the smaller 2-year-old male, is from the San Antonio Zoo.

Fully grown, duikers reach only about a foot tall and weigh seven to 10 pounds. They spend most of their day foraging for fruits and are known to scavenge food dropped from birds and primates they follow. In fact, their diet is so rich in moisture they are one of the few species that can survive without water.

The new residents share space with the Zoo’s ring-tailed lemurs. Read more about the blue duikers by following the links on the right side of this page.

Original source can be found here.