Chilean Pudu
aka Southern Pudu
Pudu pudu

With their reddish brown coat, short, thick legs, and low profile, these tiny deer easily slip through a forest’s dense tropical underbrush and navigate rocks to escape predators.

What They Eat
Pudu are browsers, eating mostly leaves and shoots. To reach food overhead, they sometimes stand upright on their hind legs, trample stalks of bamboo, or climb up trunks of leaning trees.

Where They Live
These tiny deer are secretive animals, preferring the shelter of bamboo thickets in dense, moist forests. They can be found in the lower Andes mountains of southern Chile and Argentina, from sea level to elevations of 5000 feet.

What They Do
Pudu follow well-used forest trails that lead to feeding and resting areas. They live alone except during the breeding season (rut), and when mothers are caring for their single fawn.

How They’re Doing
Chilean pudu are considered endangered due to habitat loss. Their range has shrunk considerably due to logging, cattle ranching, and competition from introduced species of larger deer. Pudu are also hunted for food, captured for the pet trade, and are often struck by cars.

Chilean Pudu

Pudu can go for long periods without drinking water. They get most of the moisture they need from the plants they eat.

Until 2-5 months of age, the buff-colored coats of pudu fawns are spotted white. This may help camouflage them in the dappled sunlight of the forest floor.

Like all deer, Chilean pudu are ruminants. After feeding, they lie in a sheltered area and chew their cud.

Pudu communicate with each other primarily through scent marking. Glands on their face secrete a smelly substance that when rubbed on trees communicates territory boundaries. They also urinate and defecate near feeding and resting areas.

When sensing danger, pudu bark like dogs to sound the alarm.

With their 4-inch spiked antlers, males are easy to tell from females.

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Chilean Pudu

Due to a loss of habitat, Chilean pudu are considered vulnerable and at risk for extinction. Chile has established a captive breeding program with plans to reintroduce the pudu into several national parks throughout their natural range.

Things the Zoo's done/doing

The Minnesota Zoo has supported a reintroduction program in Chile with the purchase of radio collars.