NEED TO KNOW
- The Nashville Zoo recently welcomed an aardvark calf
- The animal was born the morning of Jan. 1
- The new addition marks the first aardvark since 2024 to be born into a zoo affiliated with the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), a non-profit that sets the gold standard for animal care and conservation in the U.S., and provides accreditation
The Nashville Zoo has officially welcomed a new baby aardvark!
The calf, which was born at 6:06 a.m. local time on New Year’s Day, measured about 19 inches long and weighed approximately four lbs. at birth, per a release from the zoo obtained by PEOPLE.
The newborn is the first for mom Karanga, who arrived at the Nashville Zoo in 2021 from Disney’s Animal Kingdom, and dad Winsol, who arrived in 2019 from the Cincinnati Zoo, per the release.
“The Zoo’s animal care team is keeping a close watch on both mother and calf, who are doing well in an off-exhibit area,” the zoo added.
The zoo did not reveal whether a name has been chosen for the baby animal yet, but did note that the latest addition is the first aardvark since 2024 to be born into a zoo affiliated with the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), a non-profit that sets the gold standard for animal care and conservation in the U.S.
“While long-term plans for the calf have yet to be determined, it is likely the calf will eventually relocate to another AZA-accredited facility to meet a mate and, hopefully, contribute to the population,” the statement continued.
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Jac Menish, Nashville Zoo’s Curator of Behavioral Husbandry, said that the zoo’s aardvarks provide valuable insight and information into the species for animal researchers.
“In the wild, aardvarks are difficult to study because they are a nocturnal, burrowing species,” she explained in a statement, per the release.
“Both Karanga and Winsol are Ambassador Animals here at Nashville Zoo, which means we have a lot of keeper interaction, including hands-on care and leash training. This has allowed us to gather valuable information about their breeding behaviors and pregnancy. Periodic ultrasounds were conducted once the pregnancy was confirmed, and our keeper team began a nonstop baby watch to observe signs of labor and delivery,” she added.
Aardvarks (Orycteropus afer) are found throughout sub-Saharan Africa and belong to the same group of mammals as the African elephant, according to the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF).
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Living underground in burrows, they mostly subsist on a diet of termites and ants, and have long, protractile tongues that are designed specifically to efficiently capture the insects.
While aardvarks are not currently listed as endangered, they are affected by human-led habitat destruction due to factors like logging and agriculture, per the AWF.
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