African Dogs: Aardwolf

Aardwolves have a yellow-brow coat which includes vertical black stripes and a dark haired stripe on the back which stands on end when it is threatened or scared. It is a moderately-sized dog with a shoulder height of 40-50cm and has a tail length 20-25cm, while it has a length of 65-80cm from its nose to tail and weighs in at 8 to 12kg. All in all, it resembles a small Hyena and can easily be mistaken for one in the wild. In fact, it is related to the Hyena species, however it has evolved to exclusively eat termites and is incapable of eating meat. They detect termites under the ground with their exceptional hearing, and they then dig and lick the termites up with their sticky tongue. Not much is known about the Aardwolves’ behaviour because they are very shy and nocturnal creatures; However it is generally agreed that mating occurs throughout the year and gestation periods are from 90-100 days, with 2 to 4 cubs in each litter, with which they feed regurgitated termites. They are solitary mammals that only really come together to mate and then rear the young cubs, though occasionally they are seen together in small groups. They have no real use for a pack-type social structure because they cannot bring food back to dens, so they have to forage on termites for themselves. They usually use abandoned Aardvark or Porcupine burrows to live in, but in the absence of these burrows they will dig their own. They are found throughout eastern and and southern Africa with the exception of coastal areas in the south. They have a wide habitat tolerance and are adaptable to all sorts of different habitats, but they prefer semi-arid landscapes, savannahs and grassland. They are found from South Africa and from Tanzania northwards all the way up to Egypt.