Chester Zoo celebrates birth of 'special' baby aardvark named Womble

Chester Zoo has celebrated the birth of a "special" baby aardvark who has been called Womble.

The calf, born on April 3, is only the second aardvark to be born at the zoo in its 94-year history.

Staff have nicknamed the calf "Womble" after the long-snouted created from the beloved children's novels from 1968 and the subsequent TV series.

The name was inspired by the calf's giant ears, elongated snout, wrinkly hairless skin and enormous claws, which keepers said bore an unmistakable resemblance to the fictional characters.

Zookeepers have been hand-rearing the newborn, bottle-feeding him milk every few hours through the night after its mother, Oni, was unable to produce enough milk to fully support him.

As aardvarks are naturally nocturnal, keepers placed the calf into a warm incubator each evening and bottle-fed it throughout the night before carefully reuniting it with Oni each morning.

Zookeeper Sophie Tyson, who carried out many of those night feeds, described the arrival as a truly special moment for the zoo.

She 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."

She added: "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."

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The news is a significant moment not just for Chester Zoo but for the species as a whole, with only 68 aardvarks currently living in European zoos and just 114 in captivity worldwide.

Womble is also the only aardvark calf to have been born anywhere in the UK since 2024.

Chester Zoo is one of only a small number of organisations in the world actively caring for the species, which faces significant threats in the wild.

Aardvarks are native to sub-Saharan Africa, where habitat loss caused by agricultural development brings them into increasing conflict with local farmers and where they are also hunted for their meat.

The word aardvark translates as "earth pig" in Afrikaans, though despite superficial similarities the animals are not closely related to pigs, anteaters or armadillos.

Adapting to their underground lifestyle, aardvarks use their powerful claws to excavate large burrows and dig out food.

Their heightened sense of smell helps them locate termite and ant colonies in the dark.

Aardvark's tongues are extraordinarily long, measuring up to 25cm - allowing them to eat large numbers of insects rapidly.

Another unique feature of the aardvark is they can sloe their nostrils whilst digging to stop dust and dirt getting up their noses.

Womble's mother was born in May 2013, now 13 years old, whilst the calf's father, Koos, was born in February 2016.

A fully grown aardvark can weigh up to 60kg, with claves typically keeping close to the their mothers throughout the first few months of life.

The zoo said it would reveal the calf's sex once it was old enough for keepers to determine, but for now Womble's name appears to have stuck.