Longleat welcomes a new arrival

Wednesday, 11 September 2024 05:55

Keepers at Longleat Safari Park in Wiltshire are celebrating another animal birth, a Kirk’s dik-dik calf. In a year that has seen a baby boom at the park, the calf has been born to first time parents, Daenerys and Dario, who have been residents at Longleat since 2020.

The new arrival, known as Maple, is now seven weeks old and can be seen in their Jungle Kingdom home alongside the parents. Kirk’s dik-diks are a type of small antelope that only grow to approximately 40cm tall.

Animal Adventure keeper, Nadia Rozkoszek, says “We’re so excited to have a new arrival here in Jungle Kingdom. We don’t yet know the sex of the calf. They are quite shy and timid, so at the moment we cannot go in and sex them. The easiest way to tell is waiting to see if they grow horns or not, which will tell us if they are male or female.”

Calves tend to weigh between 500 – 800 grams at birth, with adults weighing anywhere between three to six kilograms.

“Maple currently looks like a mini Daenerys, so we have a sneaky suspicion she may be a girl, but only time will tell. Dik-dik's do like to hide to make them feel safe, meaning they can be hard to spot in amongst the foliage, but we’re really excited for guests to be able to see the little calf.”

Longleat’s baby boom has seen the birth of a quartet of rare Amur tiger cubs, an endangered Cotton Top Tamarin, two Californian Sea lion pups, Fennec fox cubs and the amazing Secretary bird chick.

Factfile:

Kirk’s dik-dik – Madoqua Kirkii

Conservation status: Least Concern

Mum, Daenerys, is four, and dad, Dario is five. The pair arrived at Longleat in 2020.

The species originates from Eastern and Southwest Africa, mostly dwelling in Savannah areas.

Their main diet is leaves, twigs, and other high-growing vegetation with our groups favourite comprising of field maple, vegetables and greens.