Which ingredients might supplement the captive aardvark diet mash in zoos?
Answer
Ground meat and eggs
In accredited zoos, replicating the natural diet of tens of thousands of wild ants and termites is impractical, so keepers formulate a mash or slurry designed to match the required nutritional profile. This captive diet typically involves high-quality commercial insectivore bases, which are then supplemented with ingredients like ground meat and eggs. These additions help ensure the aardvark meets all its necessary caloric and vitamin requirements while being easily consumable via their specialized tongues. This controlled environment allows keepers precise oversight of intake while maintaining the high-protein focus essential for the animal's health.
Related Questions
What term describes the aardvark's diet dominated by ants and termites?What is the approximate maximum length of the aardvark's sticky tongue?How many insects might an adult aardvark consume in a single foraging session?Which ingredients might supplement the captive aardvark diet mash in zoos?What acute sense allows the aardvark to detect insect colonies deep beneath the soil surface?Why are termite mounds often the preferred target over scattered ant lines when available?What anatomical feature is specifically designed for the aardvark to quickly excavate insect nests?What ecological vulnerability arises from the aardvark's extreme specialization in consuming ants and termites?What physical features protect the aardvark when digging into insect nests?Besides ants and termites, what is the primary alternative food source aardvarks might occasionally consume?