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Tiny Deer Stands Up to 1.7-Ton Rhino in Viral Poland Zoo Video

Keepers attribute the display to mating hormones, with no injuries reported.

Overview

  • Footage from Wroclaw Zoo shows a Reeves’s muntjac named Tata charging and headbutting a rhinoceros called Maruśka.
  • The zoo said the male deer’s heightened behavior followed his partner being in heat and a surge of testosterone.
  • Zookeeper Maciej Okupnik described the exchange as more theatre than risk, noting the rhino appeared to play along.
  • Staff said interactions between muntjacs and rhinos are tolerated in shared enclosures and brief displays like this can occur.
  • The AFP-circulated clip drew wide online attention as viewers marveled at the extreme size contrast.