Maryland Zoo welcomes yellow-backed duiker named Astrid

BALTIMORE — A yellow-backed duiker named Astrid is the newest resident at the Maryland Zoo.

She arrived from the Dallas Zoo in June and went through a standard quarantine before being introduced to the zoo's okapi, Askari. The pair will eventually share the same yard. Yellow-backed duikers and okapis share a habitat in the wild.

Astrid is almost 10 years old and is the first of her species at the Maryland Zoo.

Duiker means "diver" in Afrikaans, referring to the animals' tendency to dive for cover when startled. The shy, forest-dwelling animals are listed as "Near Threatened" due to over-hunting in the wild.

The Maryland Zoo already has another species of duiker, the much smaller blue duiker, which can be seen seasonally in the African aviary. An average adult female blue duiker weighs between 8 and 16 pounds. Astrid weighs more than 180 pounds.

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