Aardvark calf born at Chester zoo is ‘doing brilliantly’ after bottle-feeding

Births of the mammals extremely rare in captivity, say keepers, with ‘Womble’ only the second calf born at Chester

Inside a heated incubator at Chester zoo, a wrinkled newborn aardvark nicknamed “Womble” spent its first weeks being bottle-fed milk through the night by keepers determined to keep the rare calf healthy.

Named after the creatures in Elisabeth Beresford’s children’s books and the subsequent animated TV series, the nocturnal animal is only the second aardvark born at the zoo in its 94-year history. Keepers say births of the species are extremely rare in captivity, with the last aardvark calf born in the zoo in 2022.