A Is For Adorable, And Aardvark! Baby At A Chicago Zoo Is Ready For Its Close Up

Aardvarks normally feed at night, using their sense of smell to locate food after dark, and the nocturnal lifestyle allows mom Jessi to sleep during the day while zookeepers and staff with the Chicago Zoological Society feed her baby mock milk.

In their natural environment in Africa, south of the Sahara Desert, the creatures, whose name means “earth pig,” spend most of their time foraging in the ground for ants and termites, and while zookeepers admit that the creature’s appearance is certainly unusual, “it works well for the aardvark lifestyle.”

“The aardvarks take their scent hunting very seriously. They put their nose to the ground and sniff along in a zigzag pattern. I’ve even seen them bump right into things, because they didn’t look up to see what was in front of them,” said keeper Mary Schollhamer.

Instead of having termite mounds to burrow their stubby legs in the baby aardvark at the zoo has boxes, bags, and the occasional sand pile to practice on.

The newest addition is the ninth aardvark to be born at Brookfield since 1992, the last one was in 2002. 

Currently, there are 28 aardvarks in 12 accredited North American zoos. Brookfield Zoo is home to four aardvarks, including Bernaard, 28, who is one of the oldest living aardvarks in the population.

Watch video of the adorable aardvark below:

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