Aardvarks (Orycteropus afer) are another species that have always interested me, like the giant anteaters I was not able to find an overview of the current captive European population. This thread gives a list of the current Aardvark population in European Zoos according to Species360. Feel free to give any additional information and/or news, such as names, dates of births, transfers and other information of each animal. According to Species360 there are currently 64 (24.40.0) Aardvarks living in 29 European Zoos/Institutions. This request was made on the 21st of February 2023. The captive Aardvark population in Europe seems to suffer from an overrepresentation of females, so does the whole captive population with a total population of 109 (39.69.1) Aardvarks. In the last 12 months 9 births occured wordlwide, 6 of which were in Europe. So we have to see what the future brings. Additionally some zoos on ZTL are stated as holder, but can’t be found in the Species360 record. These include 2 zoos in Russia (Gosudarstvennyy zoologicheskiy park Udmurtii and Zoopark Limpopo) and 1 in Ukraine (Zoopark XII misyatsiv). So either they don’t have the species anymore or are not a member of Species360. These zoos are also not on this list, since I don't have current data for them. If you have any current information about these 3 zoos, please let me know Spoiler: Czech Republic Dvur Kralove: (1,1,0) Olomouc Zoo: (1,1,0) Plzen Zoo: (0,2,0) Praha Zoo: (1,3,0) Total: (3,7,0) Spoiler: Denmark Randers Regnskov: (1,1,0) Total: (1,1,0) Spoiler: France Le Bioparc de Doué-la-Fontaine: (1,2,0) Total: (1,2,0) Spoiler: Germany Berlin Zoologischer Garten: (1,1,0) Zoo Frankfurt: (1,2,0) Zoo Halle: (0,2,0) Zoo Köln: (0,2,0) Zoo Saarbrücken: (2,1,0) Total: (4,8,0) Spoiler: Hungary Budapest Zoo: (0,2,0) Zoo Györ: (1,2,0) Total: (1,4,0) Spoiler: Netherlands Burgers Zoo: (0,1,0) ESB coordinator Total: (0,1,0) Spoiler: Poland Wroclaw Zoo: (1,1,0) Total: (1,1,0) Spoiler: Spain Faunia Madrid: (0,1,0) Bioparc Valencia: (1,2,0) Total: (1,3,0) Spoiler: Russia Kaliningrad Zoopark: (1,0,0) Moscow Zoological Park: (1,0,0) Yekaterinburg Zoopark: (1,1,0) Total: (3,1,0) Spoiler: Switzerland Papiliorama: (0.2.0) Total: (0.2.0) Spoiler: United Kingdom Blackpool Zoo: (1,2,0) Chester Zoo: (1,1,0) Colchester Zoo: (1,1,0) ZSL Whipsnade Zoo: (1,2,0) Africa Alive!: (1,1,0) Shepreth Wildlife Park: (1,2,0) Jersey Zoo: (1,0,0) Longleat Safari Park: (2,1,0) Total: (9,10,0) Total European population: (24,40,0)
At Colchester Zoo, 32-year-old aardvark Afer has died. He was the oldest aardvark in Europe. Female Oq is currently the only aardvark at Colchester Zoo. The hope is that a new mate can be found for her. Source: Oldest Aardvark in Europe passes away at the age of 32yrs | Colchester Zoo
6-year-old female Sabi recently moved from Zoo Plzen to Zoo Praha. In Prague, she will form a breeding pair with 14-year-old Draco. The old breeding female Kvida will rest more due to her advanced age. The almost 1-year-old daughter of the old breeding pair, Farisa, has moved to Zoo Plzen. Source: Zoo Praha
Recent ultrasound examination has confirmed that Aardvark (Orycteropus afer) Skyla is pregnant. Source: Instagram of Dvůr Králové (09/06/2023)
On Tuesday 3 October, the 3-year-old aardvark male from Burgers' Zoo was loaned to Cologne Zoo. The hope is that the male from Arnhem will provide offspring in Cologne with the two females there. Source: Facebook Burgers' Zoo
Female Pieta (currently living at Prague zoo backstage) has reached the same age as Afer had when he died - 32 years and 27 days. Thus she became the new holder of the title "oldest known captive aardvark". btw she is sister of Afer so it runs in the family. Source
He was already sleeping peacefully with the females during my visit past Saturday, so the introduction seemed to have gone very well.
Two new aardvarks arrived at Colchester Zoo on 19 October. They are 7-year-old male Koos and 10-year-old female Oni from Chester Zoo. Koos and Oni both arrived on loan as part of a breeding recommendation. The pair have already settled in well with the already present female OQ. Source: Colchester Zoo
An aardvark was born in Safaripark Dvur Kralove on 24 November. Mother of the young is Skyla. The zoo suspects it is a male, but a DNA test will have to reveal this later. Source: Safaripark Dvur Kralove
