For the first time in 90 years, Chester Zoo in Upton-by-Chester, Chester, UK welcomed the birth of a baby aardvark.
The baby girl was born overnight last January 4th to 8-year-old mom Oni and 6-year-old dad Koos. When it was born, it had big droopy ears, wrinkled skin that lacked hair, and huge claws. Zookeepers at Chester Zoo gave the baby aardvark a fitting nickname—Dobby, the beloved house elf from Harry Potter.
Check out some photos of Dobby below.
This is a photo of Dobby and her mom Oni.
As aardvark parents are known to be slightly clumsy, zookeepers at Chester Zoo have been helping Oni with supplementary feeding sessions. This involves putting Dobby in a special incubator and feeding her with warm milk.
Dobby is now part of the conservation breeding programme that will help zookeepers learn how to better take care of aardvarks.
#aardvark #zoo #conservation #babyanimal
Image and video source: Chester Zoo