Curraghs Wildlife Park gave a warm welcome to its newest resident, ‘Spud’, last week.
Newbie Spud is a young Dik-dik taking up a post as companion to Dobby, who arrived at the Wildlife Park early last year.
Dobby has been on his own since the passing of the park's oldest Dik-dik, who was 17 years old and came to the island back in 2014.
A Dik-dik is a species of antelope, native to the bushlands of eastern and southern Africa. The animals are typically very small in size, and are named after a sound they make when alarmed. The Dik-dik run in a zigzag pattern making an alarm call that sounds like ‘dik dik’ by whistling through their noses. This shrill sound alerts other Dik-diks of nearby danger.
The park commented that the Dik-dik species feel most comfortable in pairs. Dik-diks tend to form monogamous pairs that oversee a patch of territory, rather than living in herds.
Spud traveled to his new home from Lakeland Wildlife Oasis in Cumbria.
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