Chester Zoo recently announced the arrival of a new baby aardvark, born to its eight-year-old mother Oni, and six-year-old father Koos on January 4.
The calf, with its distinctive features of large droopy ears, hairless wrinkled skin, and giant claws, is being hand-reared by dedicated zookeepers, who feed and care for the baby every few hours throughout the night for five weeks to help it gain strength.
The Aardvark calf has been named Dobby due to its resemblance to the character from the Harry Potter series. The calf has large ears and hairless, wrinkled skin, just like the beloved house elf.
Dave White, the zoo's team manager, commented that the new addition's resemblance to Dobby was immediately noticed by the team.
This is the first aardvark born at Chester Zoo, making it a momentous occasion. As aardvarks are mostly active at night, they are not well-known creatures, and caring for them in zoos provides opportunities to learn more about their behaviors and biology.
The calf is part of a conservation breeding program that only a few zoos participate in worldwide.
This new arrival has delighted zoo visitors and conservationists alike, and it is hoped that more aardvarks will be born at the zoo in the future to contribute to saving the planet's biodiversity.
Watching the video below:
