Only UK aardvark calf born at Chester Zoo, hand-reared by keepers and nicknamed Womble
Chester Zoo keepers have hand-reared a baby aardvark calf, nicknamed Womble, after his mother was unable to produce enough milk to fully support him.
The calf was born on 3 April 2026 to mum Oni and dad Koos and is just the second aardvark born at the zoo in its 94-year history.
He is also the only aardvark calf to have been born in the UK since 2024.
Keepers gave the calf supplementary bottle feeds of warm milk every few hours through the night for several weeks while Oni went off to forage for food.
Sophie Tyson, the Chester Zoo keeper who bottle-fed the calf overnight, said:
“Oni’s new arrival is only the second aardvark to be born at the zoo in our 94-year history, so it’s a really special addition for us all. While we don’t yet know whether the calf is male or female, as it’s a little too young for us to tell, the nickname ‘Womble’ has definitely stuck. With the calf’s giant ears, long snout and playful personality, we think it’s the perfect fit for the time being.
“Aardvarks spend their days sleeping and are most active at night, so while mum Oni heads off to forage for food, we’ve been giving the calf some extra support to help it grow stronger. For the first few weeks, we placed the youngster into a cosy incubator each evening and it was bottle-fed warm milk every few hours throughout the night before being carefully reunited back with mum each morning.
“Womble has gone from strength to strength and is doing brilliantly, so now lives fulltime back with mum Oni, and it’s wonderful to see them snuggled up side-by-side together.”
Chester Zoo said there are only 68 aardvarks in European zoos and 114 in zoos worldwide.
The zoo said it was one of just a few organisations caring for the species.
Aardvarks are native to sub-Saharan Africa.
They are nocturnal, sleeping during the day and coming out at night to forage for ants and termites.
The animal’s name comes from the Afrikaans for “earth pig” and a fully grown aardvark can weigh up to 60kg.
In the wild, aardvarks face significant threats from habitat loss caused by agricultural development, which often brings them into conflict with local farmers.
They are also hunted for their meat.
Mum Oni was born on 8 May 2013 and dad Koos on 1 February 2016.
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