I know I shouldn't truly judge it until I see it in person but I got to be honest, I'm not the biggest fan of this. It seems really small. And isn't most of the ground solid? So it only has a little ground to dig with.
Yeah, I think this looks really weak. Aardvarks, while not the most cursorial or agile of animals by any stretch, are still decent-sized, nocturnal animals that roam around on the plains of Africa as well as dig for prey and shelter. I don't expect an enclosure for such efficient diggers to be huge, but I think something at least several times the size of this with more diggable substrate and with some sort of outdoor shade would have been much better.
@Great Argus Well, now that I look at it more closely I do see a shade structure on the upper left. It must be the lighting, as the overcast weather makes it look like there's no shade over the enclosure.
A little off topic, but anyone have a clue why they only went to one Aardvark? Back when Small Wonders was new, I saw an aardvark on exhibit, then could just see one in a makeshift enclosure in the old hyena grotto. Later that same day I heard a docent implying the zoo was working to bring in another aardvark. But at some point the zoo went to only Padme and seems to be staying there.
A thought just occurred to me. I remember on the most recent AZA report, the AZA people said that the aardvark's night quarters weren't good. In response the zoo said the aardvark would now be able to access its exhibit 24 hours, even at night. So this is my idea: Notice that gate in between the meerkat and aardvark exhibit? What if that gate is there so once the meerkats have been brought in the the night, the keepers open that gate and for the night the aardvark is able to access both its and the meerkat's exhibit? This would mean that even though its actual exhibit is small, it wouldn't really matter since it sleeps most of the day anyway, but when it's active, it has a much larger area? What do you guys think? Sounds possible or not?
