Dotty the dik-dik, one of the smallest species of antelope in the world, was born weighing just a few hundred grams and stands barely taller than a tin of baked beans.
Chester Zoo said the calf is now beginning to explore her surroundings.
Megan Carpenter, assistant team manager of small mammals at Chester Zoo, said: “Dik-diks are naturally very shy animals, so for the first couple of weeks Chrissy’s tiny fawn has been tucked away in a quiet, cosy den, with mum popping back to feed and check on her.
“Now though, she’s beginning to find her feet and we’re seeing those lovely first steps as she heads out on her first little outdoor adventures.”
Dotty is being raised by her mother, Chrissy, and a surrogate father named Dan, who arrived from a zoo in Cumbria in February.
Her biological father died of old age shortly before she was born.
Ms Carpenter said: “In a lovely addition to the story, we’ve also welcomed a new male dik-dik, Dan, as part of the European conservation breeding programme.
“He’s already stepped in alongside mum Chrissy to help raise the newborn and it’s wonderful to see the three of them together.”
Kirk’s dik-diks are often found in the scrublands and mountainous regions of Kenya, Tanzania, and Namibia in Africa.
They are named after their high-pitched “dik-dik” alarm call, which they make when startled and dash for cover.
They use their elongated, flexible noses to pluck leaves directly from branches – a unique feature found only in dik-diks – and mark their territory using scent glands beneath their eyes and between their toes.