This footage shows a couple of rare baby sika deer that have been born at the world’s oldest zoo after their species went extinct in the wild.
Video footage shows the cute fawns skipping around their 6,000-square-metre habitat and spending time with loving family members.
With their brown fur, white spots and dark eyes, the young fawns are the spitting image of the Disney character ‘Bambi’.
The two Vietnamese sika deer (Cervus nippon pseudaxis) fawns were born in Schoenbrunn Zoo in the Austrian capital Vienna on 7th and 20th March respectively.
The two fawns, a male and female, belong to a species which has become extinct in the wild, having disappeared from their native territory in northern Vietnam and south-western China.
In 2017, the first herd of sika deer were brought to Schoenbrunn Zoo.
Zoo department head Simone Haderthauer said that she is delighted the herd is growing.
Haderthauer said: “What’s unusual about Vietnam sika deer is that it’s not just the fawns that have a cute spotted coat, the adults do as well, especially their summer coat. It offers good camouflage in the forest.”
There are only a few zoos in the world where the subspecies lives, with their breeding managed by a conservation programme.
Haderthauer said: “Forests in Vietnam have been extensively cleared for agriculture. In addition, the animals were widely hunted. Today, they can only be found in protected enclosures in three national parks in Vietnam.”
The exact birth date of the new arrivals has not been confirmed.
In Vienna, the deer happily share their enclosure with rhinos and antelopes.
Haderthauer said: “In the first weeks, the young lie down most of the time. In nature, this is a good tactic to hide from predators.
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Story By: Koen Berghuis, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News
