Miniature Antelope Is New Visitor Favourite

The sight of a miniature antelope was enough to stop a squirrel in his food-hoarding tracks at Yorkshire Wildlife Park.

Mr Pistachio, the newest and cutest member of the park’s Dik Dik family, is having fun exploring his surroundings and making new friends at their reserve at the award-winning park.

The doe-eyed dainty youngster is causing a stir with visitors and other animals as his parents Davos and Crissy enjoy life at the award-winning park, at Branton, near Doncaster.

“He is so cute that people, and animals, stop in their tracks to look at him,” Hoofstock team leader Ayshea Seaton.

“He is the latest addition to the family, and everyone is very proud that they are thriving so well here.”

Dik Diks, which are native to eastern and southern Africa and get their names from their distinctive cries and are tiny members of the antelope family growing to a maximum 16 inches tall and 13lbs in weight.

Dik Diks inhabit shrubland and thickets, living off an herbivore diet of leaves, shoots, flowers and fruits but are under threat from poachers who sell their bones for jewellery and their hides for suede gloves.

The park is part of a global conservation project to protect their numbers and raise awareness of their plight and the Dik Dik family are part of the park’s mission to introduce new species to visitors and strengthen its acclaimed conservation work.

The park, which is home to more than 450 animals from 70 different species, is now open to the public with clear safe distancing marking around its five kilometres of pathways and wide-ranging safety precautions.

As entry is restricted, tickets are available online only www.yorkshirewildlifepark.com