Overview
A striped shape moving quietly between the grass tufts after dark may be an aardwolf following the scent of termites. Despite its fox-like build and gentle reputation, the aardwolf is a true member of the hyena family. Unlike its larger relatives, however, it is a highly specialised insect-eater rather than a hunter or scavenger.
Aardwolves use their broad, sticky tongues to lick termites from the ground, sometimes consuming hundreds of thousands in a single night. They do not usually tear open termite mounds, allowing the colony to survive and providing a renewable food source. Their shy, nocturnal behaviour makes them difficult to see, so an aardwolf sighting is a particularly fortunate safari encounter.
Behaviour & How to Identify
Look for a slender, long-legged animal with a pale sandy coat crossed by dark vertical stripes. It has a pointed muzzle, large ears, a bushy tail and a dark mane running along its back.
Aardwolves are nocturnal and spend the day resting in underground dens. At night, they travel through open grassland using their keen hearing and sense of smell to locate termites moving above ground.
They usually forage alone, although a bonded pair may share a territory and raise cubs together. When threatened, an aardwolf raises its mane to appear larger but will normally retreat into a burrow rather than confront a predator.
Interesting facts
An aardwolf may eat up to 300,000 termites in a single night. Its broad, sticky tongue gathers the insects from the ground without destroying the entire colony.
It is a genuine hyena, despite its unusual diet. The aardwolf is one of four living members of the hyena family, but it has evolved to feed almost entirely on insects rather than vertebrate prey.
Aardwolf pairs may raise their young together. The female feeds the cubs while the male spends considerable time guarding the den from predators.