Busch Gardens has welcomed its newest resident: an adorable aardvark born Tuesday, Feb. 6. The healthy baby is expected to grow to more than 120 lbs. within its first year of life.
Aardvarks are solitary by nature, and aardvark births are not common. The animal care team is very proud to announce this birth as the third baby born to parents “Izzy” and “Friz.” The baby’s sister “Adazee” was born on March 26 last year and its older brother “Zawadi” will be two years old on April 10.
The baby, whose sex is unknown at this time, is receiving primary care from its mother and additional care from members of the Busch Gardens animal care team.
Stay tuned to Busch Gardens’ Facebook and Blog to learn more about the more than 12,000 animals that call Busch Gardens Tampa home.
The Adventure Park Announces Seventh Calf Since 2004
Busch Gardens Tampa Bay Welcomes Seventh Baby White Rhinoceros
Busch Gardens Tampa Bay welcomed a baby white rhinoceros on Tuesday, October 23, 2012. The female rhino was born 26-acre white rhino habitat on Busch Gardens’ Serengeti Plain.
The baby is the second calf born to mother Kisiri and the seventh calf born to father Tambo. Busch Gardens has celebrated a total of seventh white rhino births since October 2004. The new baby weighed an estimated 140 pounds at the time of the birth. The newborn – who has yet to be named – will gain approximately four pounds each day until it reaches an adult weight of approximately 3,500 to 4,000 pounds.
Busch Gardens participates in the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) Species Survival Plan (SSP) to ensure genetic diversification among threatened and endangered animals in zoological facilities. The birth brings the total white and black rhino population at the adventure park to eight.
Kisiri, Tambo and another female white rhino were airlifted from Kruger National Park in South Africa in 2001 through the efforts of the International Rhino Foundation (IRF), a non-profit organization dedicated to the protection of rhinos. Fewer than 15,000 white rhinos remain in the wild, and approximately 200 live in zoological facilities across North America.
Since its inception in 2003, The SeaWorld & Busch Gardens Conservation Fund has granted $7 million USD to more than 500 projects in the U.S. and around the world, including $194,000 USD grants to rhino conservation projects. The Fund was created by SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment and is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit charitable foundation dedicated to supporting environmental and wildlife conservation initiatives.
