July 11 (UPI) — Rescuers with the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance swooped in to save an underweight American pronghorn fawn found struggling on private land in New Mexico.
Rescuers Melody Tayles and Marty Sawin made the 13-hour drive from the San Diego Zoo Safari Park in Escondido to the New Mexico property where the pronghorn, an animal that resembles a deer but is actually more closely related to the giraffe, was found underweight and dehydrated.
“There was a landowner that saw this little fawn wandering around his property, and that’s not normal for a pronghorn to do when they’re just born. They’re known as ‘tuckers,’ they’ll tuck away into a little spot until their mom comes back and gets them,” Tayles said.
San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance Senior Public Relations Representative Amanda Martinez said fawn was given some initial care at the New Mexico Wildlife Center before being transported back to the San Diego Zoo.
“Thanks to the quick work of everyone involved, from the local landowner who discovered the fawn to the multiple institutions, the young pronghorn survived and is now healthy, adjusting to his new home in San Diego,” Martinez said.