Antelope Dick Dick was born at Pueblo Zoo, Colorado. While the mother and calf live in a separate room, but soon they will be released into a public enclosure in African zone zoo.


Dick-dick(Madoqua) is a miniature antelope that lives exclusively on the African continent. It cannot be called the smallest in the world, but small specimens can easily fit in the palm of an adult man. Despite its puppet size and harmless appearance these animals have a fairly fighting character and sometimes a little impudent behavior.


In total, 4 types of these animals are distinguished. Their main habitat is rocky and limestone deserts and thorny savannahs. Dick-dicks are rarely seen on open area. They live exclusively among dense thickets of bushes, where they make tunnels-paths for themselves, into which only they themselves can squeeze. A larger animal simply will not be able to climb there. Therefore, they are not afraid of either hyenas or leopards and others. large predators.


Dik-diks are one of the smallest antelopes, whose body length, depending on the species, is approximately 45-80 centimeters, and the height at the withers reaches 30-35 centimeters. Some of them weigh no more than 1.5-2 kilograms, while others - 5-6 kilograms. The toy image is complemented by thin matchstick legs, a pointed muzzle with a small movable nose-proboscis and a funny crest with miniature but extremely sharp horns.


Its slender little body has a light gray-brown color. The crest, legs and muzzle are colored yellow-brown, and the abdomen is white. He has huge beautiful eyes, which is impossible not to fall in love with. Around them is a white border, reminiscent of a "frame" from glasses.


These are territorial animals and each pair has its own territory, which is fiercely guarded by the male. The size of the plot ranges from 0.3 to 20 hectares. Its borders are patrolled almost every day by a male with a female, and sometimes with their cubs. The male marks his territory with the help of secretions formed by the preorbital glands, as well as urine and feces. Thus, it leaves its smell on all suitable objects (stones, bushes, grass). The male also marks the female and cubs with his scent.


Another way to mark the territory is a shrill and loud whistling sound, similar to "zik-zik" or "dick-dick". From here, this name was assigned to the animal. Territory battles between males are rare and do not result in fatalities. One of them either runs away immediately, or slowly, after several collisions, is removed into the nearest bushes.

In the English Chester Zoo (Chester Zoo) on October 10, a cub of one of the smallest antelopes in the world, the dik-dik antelope, was born.

The baby, who was given the name Neo (Neo), which means "gift" in Swahili, is being raised by zookeepers, as the cub's mother abandoned her child. Fortunately, in addition to people, the baby is willingly taken care of by his older sister Aluna, who was also abandoned by her mother at one time.

Eight-month-old Aluna does a great job as a big sister, supporting Neo in everything. According to Claire McPhee, unfortunately mothers of dik-dik antelopes living in captivity quite often abandon their offspring. It's good that Neo has elder sister who immediately fell in love with her younger brother.

“Aluna takes her new responsibilities very seriously and never leaves Neo,” says Claire McPhee. “A close relationship has been established between them, which cannot but rejoice us. Aluna herself was once abandoned by her mother, perhaps that is why she appreciates this relationship so much. They spend a lot of time in each other's company, which has a beneficial effect on Neo.

“Neo is only 20 cm tall, he is still very small and very nervous in the company of the rest of the family, and Aluna helps him feel more confident,” says Ms. McPhee. – This is very important for the adaptation of the little dik-dik within the family group.

“In addition, we hope that this relationship will have a positive effect on the character of Aluna herself. Perhaps in the future, when she herself gives birth to a cub, she will not repeat the mistakes of her mother, who abandoned her.

It is worth noting that dik-dik antelopes living in wild nature, also sometimes refuse to feed their offspring. Therefore, Aluna and Neo were very lucky that this happened to them at the zoo and people began to look after them. If this happened to them in nature, they would definitely die.

Dik-dik (lat. Madoqua) is a miniature antelope that lives exclusively on the African continent, namely in Kenya, Tanzania and Namibia. It can be considered one of the smallest in the world. Interestingly, the smallest dik-dik cubs can easily fit in the palm of an adult male.

Despite their puppet size and adorable appearance, these antelopes have an extremely combative nature and sometimes even a somewhat arrogant behavior. Female dik-dik antelopes become sexually mature at 6 months, and males at 12 months. They live up to 10 years.

Mariyka says: “The smallest antelopes in the world - dikdik, or dik-dik (lat. madoqua swaynei), were found by me in African savannah in Kenya, in national park East Tsavo [Tsavo], or Tsavo East. Small specimens can easily fit in the palm of an adult man.”

1. Dikdiks are the rarest example of animal fidelity in the wild, they live all their lives only in constant pairs.

2. They are not so easy to find and even more difficult to shoot - these nimble, shy, merging with environment tiny antelopes with incredibly cute faces and a trunk-nose are not at all as simple and harmless as they seem at first glance.

3. I managed to make a rare shot - to photograph the whole family with the baby on a walk.

4. These crumbs are almost invisible in the grass and undersized shrubs and masterfully merge with the environment. The coat color is dominated by various shades of light gray-brown and brown - this coloring helps dwarf antelopes to be almost invisible against the background of the surrounding landscape.

7. This African endemic species, which lives only in East and South-West Africa and is not found anywhere else, belongs to the subfamily of pygmy antelopes. Their main habitat is in four countries: Kenya, Tanzania, Namibia and Angola.

8. The body length of a miniature antelope is from 45 to 80 cm, the height at the withers is only 30-35 cm, and the body weight of an adult is only 2 to 6 kg! Despite their puppet size and harmless appearance, these animals have a fairly fighting character and rather arrogant behavior.

10. Dikdiks are exceptionally graceful animals, with thin limbs (moreover, the hind legs-matches are longer than the front ones), with large black eyes and large movable ears.

11. Dik-diks have a funny face with a nose made of two elongated movable proboscis tubes. In males, the nose is longer and fleshier, while in females it is neater and shorter.

12. Females have a funny crest on their heads, and only males have neat small and sharp horns.

13. Females are noticeably larger than males, but males undeniably dominate family life.

14. Dik-diks choose a companion for life, they are very faithful and live only in constant pairs. In the entire history of research on this species of antelope, not a single cub conceived from a stranger has been found. It is not surprising, because during the mating season, males accompany females almost constantly (that is, they move only in pairs), and outside the mating season - for 65% of the time. During the mating season, male strangers try to break through to the females, but such invasions quickly end in an attack by the male, and the females hide during the fight. Fights between males never lead to deaths.

16. Sometimes, if you're lucky, dik diks can be watched by the whole family - dad, mom and baby. Each couple has its own territory - the area is about a hundred meters in diameter (in some cases it can reach half a kilometer), which has been used for several years. The male and female mark the boundaries of the territory with piles of dung and immediately drive off the invading strangers. And if a couple of dik-diks happen to wander beyond the boundaries of their territory, the “come to their senses” male, first of all, drives his female “home”.

18. Female dwarf antelopes are able to bring two times a year, one cub. Pregnancy lasts six months and usually occurs at the end of the rainy season. Males practically do not participate in the protection and upbringing of cubs. A young dikdik becomes an adult by about a year old, after which it is expelled from the territory of its parents and then independently looks for a mate and a plot. Moreover, females drive away daughters, males - sons. The exile, as a rule, does not go far and tries to "stake out" his own plot on neutral land between the parent and the neighboring couple's plot.

19. These animals prefer to settle in arid areas overgrown with dense shrubs - their main food. Dense dense thickets also serve as a shelter for them from predators. Among the thickets, they make paths-tunnels for themselves, into which only they themselves can squeeze, and a larger animal simply cannot climb there. Therefore, they are not afraid of either hyenas, or leopards, or other large predators.

20. Dwarf antelopes are quite selective in food. For the most part, these animals eat the stems, leaves, flowers, pods, and seeds of protein-rich shrubs and trees. Grass is not their main diet, although they may nibble on its young shoots. Animals get all the moisture they need from plants and dew. Therefore, they can survive in places where there are no water bodies for drinking. They feed in the early morning and at dusk, and during the day they often rest or just walk. Dik-diks are exclusively herbivores. (c) masterok

24. Dikdiks are rarely seen in open areas. If only a male. Seeing the approaching danger, mini-antelopes make strange shrill sounds - something like a whistling "dik-dik" or "zik-zik", after which they got their name. Dik-diks, like all antelopes, are by nature very curious and trusting, which, unfortunately, the local population used successfully before, hunting them for the sake of leather, from which gloves were made. Now the population of pygmy dikdik antelopes in Kenya is not threatened.

A cute animal with a funny name "dikdik" (lat. Madoqua) is a miniature antelope living in the semi-deserts and savannas of South and Central Africa.

area

Their main habitat is in four countries: Kenya, Tanzania, Namibia and Angola.


Dik-diks are tiny African antelopes.


Description of the antelope

The length of an adult dikdik is no more than half a meter, and its weight is several kilograms. Dik diks (Dik-dik) are very graceful and graceful, they have elongated muzzles, big eyes and ears Long neck and thin legs. The color is dominated by various shades of brown. This coloring helps these pygmy antelopes to blend in with the background of the surrounding landscape.


Dik-diks are tiny African antelopes.


Food

Female dik-diks are much larger than males. But the males have horns, however, they are so small that they are practically invisible, but very sharp. These are paired animals, moreover, pairs are formed permanently and each of them has its own territory. The size of such a site, as a rule, does not exceed a hundred meters in diameter, but in some cases it can reach half a kilometer.


These animals prefer to settle in arid areas overgrown with dense shrubs - their main food. Dik-diks like to graze in the morning and evening, and usually rest during the day. Dense thickets also serve as a shelter for them from predators that cannot get there. Seeing the approaching danger (and dik-diks have a lot of enemies!), these antelopes make strange sounds, something like “dik-dik”, to which they owe their name.



Offspring

Females of the dwarf antelope are able to bring two cubs twice a year. A young dikdik becomes an adult by about a year old, after which it is expelled from the territory of its parents and then independently looks for a mate and a plot.



Varieties of pygmy antelopes

There are several varieties of these dwarf antelopes: mountain dikdik, red-bellied dikdik, small dikdik, Günther's dikdik and the most common of all - ordinary dikdik, also known as Kirk's dikdik.


Dik-diks are by nature very curious and trusting, which, unfortunately, has long been used by the local population, hunting them for the sake of leather, from which fashionable gloves were made. At present, fortunately, the scale of hunting for dik-diks has significantly decreased and these wonderful animals are not threatened with extinction.

Dikdik antelope. Photo: www.globallookpress.com / M. Woike

A baby dikdik mini-antelope was born for the first time in the Moscow Zoo. Animal weighing 600 grams, it can easily fit in a man's palm. For the first two months of life, the baby will eat mother's milk, and after that it will gradually switch to adult food.

Who are dikdiks?

Dikdiki is a genus of miniature bovids belonging to the subfamily of true antelopes. Animals are common in the savannas and semi-deserts of the central and East Africa(from Namibia to Somalia). The dimensions of the dikdik antelope are comparable to the size of a domestic cat: height - 30-40 centimeters, weight - about 6 kg.

Female dik-diks tend to be slightly larger than males. The mating season occurs twice a year, coinciding with the period of feeding newborns (pregnancy lasts just under 6 months). Males practically do not participate in the upbringing of cubs. About half of newborns die in the first weeks. When young dik-diks reach six or seven months of age, their parents forcibly drive them out of their territory.

Dik-diks are diurnal. At very high daytime temperatures, they rest in the shade. Due to their small size, the animals are easy prey for many predators. In the event of a threat, they run away, jumping from side to side, and look for a new shelter, in which they again wait until the danger has passed.

What do dik-diks eat?

Dik-diks are exclusively herbivorous animals, they eat vegetation at a height of one meter from the ground.

Why is the antelope so called?

Dikdiks got their name from the sounds they make when danger is approaching. They instantly dive into the thickets, from where they make sounds similar to “dik-dik”.