There is more news to report from the Virginia Zoo. A Yellow-backed Duiker was born there last week! The female calf was welcomed by mother, Dot, and father, Dash, and weighed 11.4 pounds at birth.

Dot arrived at the Virginia Zoo in early 2013 (via the Houston Zoo) and recently turned 5 years old. Dash is her younger-man at 2 years old, and he came from the Metro Richmond Zoo in 2014.

So far, Zoo staff have observed Dot nursing, cleaning and caring for her baby… all evidence she’s doing a great job. The family is currently being kept indoors, which gives them time to establish the needed familial bonds; and it allows the baby to stay warm in these cold winter days.

Photos and Videos Courtesy: The Virginia Zoo

The Yellow-backed Duiker (Cephalophus silvicultor) is a forest dwelling antelope found mainly in Central and Western Africa.

At maturity, they weigh a max of about 60-80 kg (132-176 lbs.). They feed selectively on plants, but their main diet is fruits.

Yellow-backed Duikers are the largest of all the duikers (primitive antelope which diverged early in bovid history). Both males and females have short cylindrical horns, which are ribbed at the base, and reddish-brown hair sits between the horns.

The species is listed as “Least Concern” on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, with a total population estimated at more than 150,000. According to the IUCN: “In much of its range, especially outside protected areas, it has been reduced to low numbers or eliminated by forest destruction, and encroachment of human settlements, coupled with uncontrolled hunting for bushmeat. The species was formerly subject to strict taboos that once protected it in some parts of its range, and it is still considered a non-preferred game species in some areas; however, many of these taboos have broken down.”