A truck driver in Namibia was preparing for a shift. So he checked the tires, as always, before the trip. Only this time an unexpected little guest turned out to be at one of the tires. It was a baby aardvark, an elusive mammal from South Africa.
The first thought that came to the driver’s mind was to look for the baby’s mother, but, unfortunately, she was not there.
Assuming he might be alone, the driver decided to help the tiny aardvark. So he carefully picked up the baby and put him in the truck. When they got to the freight company’s office, they called Dr. Erika de Jager, a local veterinarian who also runs the ZURI Shelter, a small rehabilitation center for orphaned animals.
Dr. Erica was more than happy to welcome the tiny aardvark. «For me, it was love at first sight,» the woman told Dodo.
This was the first aardvark she had to take care of. Dr. Erica was convinced.
«We had to experiment a lot with different pacifiers,» she said. «When we started giving him milk, he immediately started gaining weight. »
Once in the shelter, the almost three-month-old aardvark began to communicate with two rescue dogs, Spock and Zara.
And Dr. Erica couldn’t believe her eyes, how quickly they became friends. For aardvark, communicating with other animals was exactly what he needed for emotional healing.
«The dogs were interested in him and just reacted to him like he was another puppy,» Dr. Erica said. «They were used to baby animals like goats and warthogs in the shelter, so it wasn’t unusual for them. They were just playing with him like he was one of them.
He slept with dogs like a baby. I don’t think the kid realized he was an aardvark. I think he just decided he was a dog!»
