Gardens® has welcomed its newest resident: an adorable aardvark born Tuesday, Feb. 6. The healthy baby is expected to grow to more than 120 lbs. within its first year of life.

Aardvarks are solitary by nature, and aardvark births are not common. The animal care team at Busch Gardens is very proud to announce this birth as the third baby born to parents “Izzy” and “Friz.” The baby’s sister “Adazee” was born on March 26 last year and its older brother “Zawadi” will be two years old on April 10.

The baby, whose sex is unknown at this time, is receiving primary care from its mother and additional care from members of the animal care team.

Stay tuned to Busch Gardens’ Facebook and Blog to learn more about the more than 12,000 animals that call Busch Gardens Tampa home. For further details, visit buschgardens.com.(Source)

Aardvarks may not be considered a threatened species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, but the African Wildlife Foundation points out that the well-being of aardvarks is sometimes threatened by people. The Foundation says that an adult aardvark's "principal enemies are human." In Africa, the animal is sometimes killed by people for food and "many parts of the aardvark body are used as charms."
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