Cute alert! Meet Busch Gardens Tampa Bay’s newest addition: a baby aardvark!

The young male aardvark was born at Busch Gardens on April 10. Busch Gardens’ animal care experts stepped in when they saw that the mother was not attentive.

There are only about 35 aardvarks in zoos in North America.With fewer than a dozen successful births each year, aardvark births are not common. They are solitary by nature, only Busch Gardens is home to a male and female, with the cub making three. He will be raised in Jambo Junction – located in the Nairobi area of the park – and will become one of the park’s educational Animal Ambassadors.

More photos at the official webpage: Link (Photo: Matt Marriott/Busch Gardens Tampa Bay) – via Laughing Squid

If you’ve been wondering, "Aardvark" means "ground pig" in Afrikaans/Dutch. It is not, however, actually related to the pig.

I’ve seen a lot of cute baby critters in my time, but this is the first time I’ve seen a newborn aardvark. He’s so weird looking, he looks like Alf‘s hairless baby. If you live near the Detroit zoo, check out this “hideously cute” babe.

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