Patty Jenkins, age 15, of Washington, Ill., for her question:

Are there aardvarks in captivity?

This fellow was discovered by the Dutch who settled South Africa  and he was like no animal they had ever seen. The scientists thought that he was related to the anteater of South America, but they have since changed their minds. They now agree with the Dutch settlers. The aardvark is like no other animal in the world.

The Dutch settlers of South Africa gave this unique animal the name aardvark, which means earth pig. True, he burrows in the earth  sometimes faster than a person can dig him out. True, ha has some pig like features. His coarse, thick skin is covered with short bristles, he has a long, pig type snout and he grunts. But here the likeness ends.

The aardvark may be six feet long and a long tapering tail makes up about a third of this length. He stands on short, stubby legs and his spine arches up in a high hump. His head is crowned with a pair of mule type ears and his eyes are capped with dropping lids. He lives on a diet of ants and termites and in character the aardvark is one of the shyest/ of all animals.

It is not easy to keep the strange fellow in captivity. The termites on which he feeds build nests of hardened mud five or six feet high and these busy builders are plentiful in the wilds of Africa. It is not easy to supply a captive aardvark with his natural food, What's more, he is a fast and skillful borrower. Unless he is trapped in a very sturdy home, the aardvark soon digs his way out of captivity.

But these needs have been mat and many aardvarks have been kept in captivity. However, the early Dutch settlers of South Africa soon found that their strange native animal was a disappointing zoo member. They could capture him and meet his food and housing needs.

But the aardvark refused to display himself.    There are aardvarks in many zoos today, but the strange fellows are rarely on hand to amaze the visitors.

First, the aardvark is a very shy character and tends to keep out of sight. What’s more, he avoids the daylight, In the wild state he spends the day dozing underground and comes out to do his foraging after dark. A few zoos do have aardvarks in captivity, but visitors rarely get a chance to see them.

Zoologists classify the aardvark in an order all his own, However, the South African aardvark is not quite unique for he has a close cousin in Northeast Africa. They are classified as two species of the same family and the same order   and they have no other relatives in the world.