The baby aardvark rejected by his mother just hours after being bornDespite being completely bald, this adorable aardvark nevertheless faced a rather hairy situation when it was rejected by his mother moments after being born.
Staff at Busch Gardens in Tampa, Florida, were forced to step in and care for the clumsy creature just hours after its birth on April 10.
But despite a rocky start the new arrival is now thriving and has made his first public appearance at the USA park.
Care: The baby aardvark has substitute parents in the form of the Busch Gardens staffAfter birth, young aardvarks usually remain with their mother for approximately six months before moving out and digging their own burrow.
A spokesman for the park said: 'Obviously we like to let nature take its course but we had to step in when we discovered his mother wasn't being attentive.
'We were scared she might accidentally step on him or even bury her cub as aardvarks have a primary instinct to dig for food and burrow for shelter.'
in the pink: Busch Gardens' new arrival is now thriving, as you can seeIn the wild, female aardvarks typically give birth to one newborn each year.
The baby, which is yet to be named, is one of just 35 in zoos in North America.
The animals have a huge appetite for insects and have been known to suck up 50,000 of them in just one hour.
All the attention is clearly thirsty work for the aardvarksource: dailymail
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