The Southern Pudu (Pudu puda) is one of two species of Pudu Deer native to South America. Their native range is across southern Chile and south-western Argentina. This deer is classified as near-threatened.
The Pudu is the smallest species of deer in the world, with the Northern Pudu Deer slightly smaller than its southern cousin.
How Small is the Southern Pudu Deer?
- Head & Body Length – 90 cm
- Shoulder Height – 35 cm
- Weight – 10 kg
What Does the Southern Pudu Look Like?
The Southern Pudu is the smallest of all the deer species, and is one of the smallest of the ungulates.
It is similar in appearance to the Northern Pudu, the main physical difference being that the Southern Pudu is smaller.
The coat is thick and rough, and in color it is a brownish black color.
The tail is short, and the ears are small and rounded. The antlers are small simple spikes. The antlers are cast in July and August, and begin to be regrown immediately.
The pre-orbital scent glands of the Pudu puda are large and prominent in this species of deer.
Where Do Pudu puda Live?
Distribution
The Southern Pudu lives in South America, where it has a more southerly range than the Northern Pudu. Its native range is in the southern Andes of Chile and south western Argentina.
Habitat
The Southern Pudu is more adaptable and flexible in the types of habitat in which it will live than is the Northern Pudu.
It lives on high mountainsides of up to 2,000 metres, but it can also be found at much lower altitudes, including along the coast.
Rather than living in open habitats, it prefers woodlands and forest that offer it a good degree of cover from predators. It will however, venture out into more open habitats to feed.
Mating Habits & Reproduction
Because this species lives at a fairly low latitude, its lifestyle is influenced by the seasons. The reproductive cycle of Pudu puda is seasonal.
The rutting period for these tiny deer occurs in early Autumn, in the months of April and May.
After a 200 to 210 day long gestation period, usually a single fawn is born.
Fawns have a brown coat that is spotted with white. This acts as camouflage from predators.
The young are weaned at 3 months of age, and become sexually mature when they are about a year old.
Behavior Unique to the Southern Pudu
The Southern Pudu lives in small family groups. It uses traditional pathways through thick vegetation, which over time become similar to small tunnels.
Pudu puda live in small territories. It is a shy secretive animal, and it normally feeds in the early morning or in the late afternoons.
They have a number of natural predators.
What Do Southern Pudu Eat?
The southern pudu is a browser with a taste for the lush understory of the temperate rainforests of Chile and Argentina. Its diet includes leaves, buds, vines, ferns, bark, and fallen fruit, along with the foliage of native bamboos that thrive in these forests. Because so much of its food is moist vegetation, the pudu appears to get much of the water it needs directly from its meals. Its food list looks quite different from what most deer eat in open country — there is little grazing on grass and a great deal of delicate picking through dense greenery.
Reaching food takes ingenuity when you stand barely knee-high to a human. Southern pudus have been observed standing on their hind legs to reach higher foliage, and even scrambling up sloped, fallen tree trunks to browse — behavior almost unheard of in other deer.
Predators of the Southern Pudu
A deer the size of a small dog has no shortage of enemies. The puma is the southern pudu’s main natural predator, while small wild cats such as the kodkod (güiña) and Andean foxes are a particular danger to fawns. Today, however, one of the deadliest threats is the domestic dog: free-roaming and feral dogs chase down pudus around farms, villages, and even inside protected areas.
When pursued, a pudu relies on its tunnel-like network of trails through dense vegetation, fleeing in fast zigzag bursts and squeezing through gaps no larger predator can follow. Freezing in place and barking in alarm are also part of its defensive repertoire — classic small-deer behavior shaped by a lifetime of hiding.
Threats and Conservation Status
The IUCN Red List classifies the southern pudu as Near Threatened. The species is protected by law in both Chile and Argentina, but its population is believed to be declining. The pressures it faces are a familiar list:
- Habitat loss as temperate rainforest is cleared or logged for farmland, plantations, and development
- Attacks by domestic dogs, one of the most frequently reported causes of pudu deaths
- Road mortality where highways cut through forest habitat
- Poaching and illegal capture for the pet trade
- Competition and disease linked to livestock and introduced deer species
On the positive side, the southern pudu breeds well in captivity and is kept in zoos around the world, where coordinated breeding programs maintain a healthy insurance population. Wild populations persist in national parks and reserves across southern Chile — including Chiloé Island — and adjacent Argentina, making protected habitat the cornerstone of pudu conservation.
How the Pudu Compares to Other Small Deer
The pudu is often described as South America’s answer to Asia’s muntjac deer. Both are compact forest deer with short spike-like antlers, secretive habits, and a fondness for dense cover threaded with private trails. But the resemblance comes from convergent evolution rather than close kinship — the two groups sit on different branches of the deer family tree. The pudu is the smaller of the two, and unlike male muntjacs it lacks protruding tusk-like canine teeth.
Frequently Asked Questions
How big is a southern pudu?
Adults typically stand around 35 to 45 centimeters (14 to 18 inches) at the shoulder and weigh roughly 6 to 14 kilograms (13 to 30 pounds) — about the size of a small dog. Together with the northern pudu, it shares the title of the world’s smallest deer.
Can you keep a pudu as a pet?
No. The southern pudu is a protected wild animal in Chile and Argentina, and capturing or keeping one is illegal. Pudus are also shy, easily stressed animals with specialized diets, and they do poorly outside their forest habitat or well-run zoo programs.
Where can you see a southern pudu?
In the wild, your best chances are in the temperate rainforests of southern Chile, especially in national parks and on Chiloé Island — though even there, sightings are brief and lucky. Many zoos in the Americas and Europe keep southern pudus, where visitors can see this smallest of deer up close.
Related species: Meet the pudu’s high-altitude cousin the northern pudu, or explore South America’s other mountain deer, the taruca and the South Andean deer.
