Our group of Aardvarks have welcomed yet another healthy offspring to the group on the 15th March 2013!

The group continues to be the most successful breeding group in the UK and one of the most successful groups in Europe!

Sarah Forsyth, one of our curators, said, ‘We believe the baby is female and she has grown a great deal already! She is starting to venture into the outside enclosure at night and as usual Oq is proving to be a great mother.’ The new arrival will be named by its dedicated keepers once the sex is confirmed.

Oq and baby are currently housed in the birthing burrow whilst the baby grows stronger. They will be able to return to the rest of the group within approximately a month, when the youngster will be strong enough to survive any bumps from the rest of the group who are notoriously clumsy. The birthing burrow is off show, but visitors can see Oq and baby via a closed circuit television link to a large screen in the main viewing tunnel of the zoo’s Aardvark Burrow.

Aardvarks are native to Southern Egypt and South Africa living mainly in the sub-Saharan areas. Their habitat is generally grasslands and open woodland and their diet consists of Ants, termites, fruit and other insects. According to the IUCN Red List Aardvarks current status in the wild is vulnerable due to changes in land use and intensive crop farming.

We are proud to be a part of such a successful breeding programme and to be a part of conserving this magnificent species. Take a trip to the Aardvark Burrow on your next visit to Colchester Zoo to catch a glimpse of the latest arrival.