10 December 2025
We've welcomed Nacho and Tafari, a pair of aardvarks, to our Zoo - a move carefully coordinated to support the conservation breeding programme.
The nocturnal pair wasted no time exploring their new digs at the largest zoo in the UK, which features a snug indoor sleeping area, and a labyrinth of dirt mounds for them to burrow in.
Arriving from Jersey Zoo, Whipsnade’s keepers are hoping that the family of aardvarks, also known as ‘earth pigs’ due to their snuffling, continues to grow.
Jonathan Risbridger, senior zookeeper at Whipsnade Zoo, said: “Nacho and Tafari are a great addition to our family, or armoury, of aardvarks here at Whipsnade Zoo. Nacho is actually returning to Whipsnade, as she was one of the first ever aardvarks to live at our zoo”.
“She’s very confident and has made herself right at home again. Tafari is bigger and more muscular, and can also be recognised by his darker-coloured legs – he looks a bit like he’s wearing a pair of trousers!”
“Visitors will most likely spot the long-snouted twosome snoozing away in a heap under a heat lamp in their cosy den, but they might see them sniffing around their habitat in the late afternoon - which is the start of a typical aardvark's day.”
The dynamic duo will temporarily have a roommate in the Zoo’s existing aardvark, Dobby, before she moves to a new home as part of her own breeding recommendation.
Visitors to the Whipsnade Zoo this winter will be able to spot the aardvarks, plus 11,000 other animals that call the conservation zoo home. Every festive visit helps to support ZSL’s science and conservation work to protect and restore wildlife around the world.