The latest arrival to our aardvark group has been confirmed as male and given the name Adela Junior or ‘AJ’ as he is now known to keepers. The name was given to him after his father Adela, who sadly passed away not long after AJ’s birth, after struggling with an ongoing illness.

Since his arrival on the 22nd December 2014 AJ has continued to grow strong and healthy, met his fellow aardvarks and been exploring outside the burrow whilst sticking close by mum, Oq!

AJ joins mum Oq and our two other resident females Puq and Skyla at the Aardvark Burrow next to the lake! AJ is also part of what was the most successful breeding group in the UK and one of the most successful groups in Europe.

The aardvark is a unique animal only found in Africa and are almost exclusively nocturnal, they love to sleep during the day curled in a tight circle in the burrow.

Aardvarks such as our group have thick skin which is sparsely covered by hairs and varies in colour from brownish grey to a pale sandy colour. Our little one started off hairless but has more recently begun to grow hair and within 12 months will be fully grown just like his mum!

Our group enjoy a diet mainly made up of insects such as ants and termites. Once fully grown an adult aardvark can eat up to 50,000 of this insect prey in one night!

To find out more about how you can adopt one of our Aardvarks please click here.