Order: Carnivora Family: Hyaenidae Genus & Species: Proteles cristatus
The aardwolf is the most specialized of any member of the hyena family. It tailors its routine to match the habits of the harvester termite - its favourite food.
Habitat
The aardwolf inhabits the open plains of eastern and southern Africa
where its prey, the harvester termite, builds its mounds. These regions often contain
little vegetation, and some areas, such as the Kalahari Desert, are extremely arid.
The aardwolf may occasionally live in lush savanah, but again, only where it finds
termites. The animal is often found close to human habitation and also in a number
of Africa's national parks, including Serengeti and Kruger.
With its loosely dispersed populations, the aardwolf is vulnerable to loss of habirar
caused by human settlements encroaching onto the plains. In some areas, it is also
persecuted by farmers in the mistaken belief that it takes livestock. Although
numbers are declining, the species is in no great danger at present.
| What they eat The preferred food of the aardwolf is the night active harvester termite during summer. It then switches to larger day-active species in the winter when the smaller harvesters are more difficult to find. The termites leave their nest around dusk to forage for food and the aardwolf locates them by using it's very sharp hearing to pinpoint their movements. It licks up many thousands of them with it's broad saliva coated tongue. They also visit termite mounds and locate the movement inside,again, using their hearing, and then dig in to the correct place. The aardwolf may also eat other invertebrates and, on occasion, birds eggs. Despite the belief of some farmers, they do not take livestock as their teeth and jaws are too weak to tear meat. |
 A mound of food |
Breeding
Mating usually takes place in spring or autumn. The male will usually breed with the
female from his own territory but will mate with other intruding females. Disputes can
arise between males in pursuit of a single breeding female.
After a pregnancy of about three months, the female will give birth to two or three cubs.
At first they are fed on the mothers milk and are then weaned onto solids which are
termites regurgitated by the parents.
At around three months, they accompany the mother on feeding trips. At around four months,
they are capable of finding their own food. They will usually remain with the mother until
the next breeding season and then they will leave to find their own territories.
Behaviour
The aardwolf uses scent from it's anal glands to mark out it's
territory, which may be as large as 4 sq km in desert regions. It defends it's territory
fiercely, growling and chasing away intruders. They often have a number of dens which are
usually empty aardvark or spring hare burrows that it has enlarged although, they can
excavate their own burrows if necessary. The aardwolf usually shelters from the sun during
the day and comes out at dusk to forage for food. It wll come out during the day in
cooler weather but only in areas where there is no human activity. They usually
remain solitary except to breed. Families can sometimes share territories but still
forage alone. If attacked, an aardwolf will spray an enemy with a foul smelling fluid
produced by its anal gland. Because of its small size, it makes an easy target for
big cats and large birds of prey.