Tinkerbell and Wendy the Muntjac Deer | Obituaries

Tinkerbell and Wendy, mother and daughter muntjac deer, were euthanized at the Pueblo Zoo in Colorado in March 2025. They were 17 and 18, elderly for their species. They both had advanced arthritis and other age-related health issues.

Muntjacs are small deer found in Asia. They’ve also been introduced into other regions, such as the UK, where they’ve established populations. Muntjacs are sometimes called “barking deer” due to their loud, distinctive calls. They use scent to communicate and rub their foreheads onto twigs and the ground to scent-mark.

They are generally solitary, primarily nocturnal, and shy. It’s impossible to fully provide for any wild animal’s social, physical, and psychological needs in captivity. But for muntjac deer, who naturally would be alone and most active at night, being displayed in a small enclosure where noisy crowds come to gawk at them all day is likely very stressful.

Most of the twelve species of muntjacs are not classified as threatened, but some are under severe pressure. The giant muntjac is critically endangered. Hunting, specifically by snare, is a significant threat. Rangers at a Cambodian park found nearly 30,000 snares in one year alone. Roosevelt’s muntjacs (named for the US president) had not been seen alive since 1929. In 2014, they appeared in camera-trap images in Xuan Lien Nature Reserve in Vietnam.

World Animal Protection urges everyone who loves muntjacs to avoid zoos and enjoy them in the wild or at an accredited sanctuary.