A one-and-a-half-pound baby blue duiker was born at the Maryland Zoo, staff announced Monday.

The male blue duiker calf was born on April 2 to mother Flower and father Kuruka.

Blue duikers are small antelopes that are often found in parts of Africa. They get their name from the Afrikaans word "duiker" which means to dive, as the animals will dive into bushes when threatened.

They remain relatively small, and adult blue duikers are about the size of a housecat, zookeepers said. They often weigh about seven to 20 pounds and live for up to 10 years.

The blue duiker calf was able to run within hours of its birth, but the animals avoid roaming freely for the first several weeks of life, according to zoo officials.

The animals usually reach full size at six months and leave their home after one or two years.

"The duiker calf is healthy and gaining weight as he bonds with his mother in the barn," said Erin Cantwell Grimm, Mammal Curator at the Maryland Zoo. "We've had good success breeding blue duikers and we're happy this little one is doing well. He'll be visible to the public once he gets just a little bigger."

The birth of the calf came after a breeding recommendation from the Blue Duiker Species Survival Plan. The plan recommends breeding to maximize genetic diversity and ensure the long-term survival of the species, zookeepers said.

Blue duikers are not classified as endangered species, but their population is impacted by overhunting and a lack of habitat.

Babies at the Maryland Zoo

On April 24, zookeepers announced the arrival of a baby lemur to the zoo, saying it was the first birth since the endangered species returned in 2023.

The coquerel's sifaka was born to father Terence and mother Arcadia at the recommendation of a species survival plan.

Sifakas are named for their distinctive call. The lemurs, which are native to Madagascar and southeastern Africa, can leap more than 20 feet. They spend most of their lives in treetops and are endangered due to deforestation.

In early April, the Maryland Zoo announced the surprise birth of a female giraffe , after a 4-year-old giraffe arrived at the zoo in November.

Zookeepers said they didn't know the mom, Kipi, was pregnant at the time.