Busch Gardens Welcomes New Baby Aardvark

 Tampa, Fla. (March 30, 2012) – Busch Gardens welcomed its newest resident earlier this week: an adorable aardvark born Monday, March 26. The healthy baby weighs about 4.8 pounds and is expected to grow to more than 120 lbs. within its first year.

It is currently living behind the scenes at Jambo Junction – located in the Nairobi area of the park – and is receiving care from members of the animal care team. The baby will join mom “Izzy” and dad “Friz” in the upcoming weeks and will be an Animal Ambassador for the park, along with its older brother “Zawadi,” who will be a year old on April 10.

There are fewer than 40 aardvarks in zoos in North America. They are solitary by nature, and aardvark births are not common.

Stay tuned to Busch Gardens’ Facebook and Blog to find out when this healthy baby aardvark will make his public debut at Jambo Junction for guests to see. For further details, visit www.buschgardens.com