The Nashville Zoo welcomed a bald, wrinkly bundle of joy with the birth of an aardvark calf on New Year's Day.
Driving the news: The calf was born at 6:06am, according to the zoo, making it one of the first babies born in a zoo in 2026.
The baby is about the size of a rolling pin.
Fun fact: The furless baby became just the 34th of its species at an Association of Zoos and Aquariums-accredited zoo.
Flashback: The aardvark's mother Karanga came to the Nashville Zoo from Disney's Animal Kingdom in 2021.
Nate's thought bubble: Aardvarks behave in the wild much like professional journalists. According to the zoo, "[aardvarks] spend their days in dark burrows ... coming out at night [to] forage for food."
What's next: The calf will likely be relocated to another zoo to be paired with a mate.
