Despite its misleading name, the aardwolf is neither an aardvark nor a wolf, but a member of the family Hyaenidae, alongside the spotted, brown and striped hyenas.
This shy and elusive African carnivore leads quite a different life from its better-known relatives, though. Rather than hunting large prey or feeding on carrion, the aardwolf spends the night lapping up termites with its broad, sticky tongue – a strange evolutionary departure that remains shrouded in mystery.
What does it look like? Does it look like a hyena?
Pretty much. Like the other hyenas, it has a dark ridge of hair that runs along its back; large eyes and ears; and a distinctive sloping outline, with forelegs longer than hindlegs. It also shares the striped hyena’s buff-coloured coat marked with bold black stripes.
However, it is far smaller and more lightly built than its relatives, with a narrower muzzle and greatly reduced cheek teeth, adapted for munching on insects, although it retains strong canines (and claws) to defend itself in fights.
It is thought that the aardwolf genetically diverged from the other living hyena species around 15-35 million years ago, but fossil evidence only dates back as far as around 4 million years ago, so its exact origins still puzzle scientists.
How big are they?
They measure around 40-50cm high at their shoulders and not including their tail are 55-80cm long. Their tails add another 20-30cm. They weigh between 8-12kg.
Where does an aardwolf live?
The aardwolf occurs in two separate parts of Africa: the subspecies P. cristatus is found in eastern and north-eastern Africa; the other subspecies, P. septentrionalis, in southern Africa.
It primarily favours open, grassy plains where termites are plentiful, and generally avoids true desert and dense forest. However, it occupies a more diverse range of habitats in southern Africa, including open savannah woodland, gravel plains and scrubland. It shelters underground, often in a burrow first excavated by an aardvark or springhare.
What does an aardwolf eat?
Termites, and almost nothing else. The aardwolf mainly feeds on nasute harvester termites (Trinervitermes), using its incredibly long, sticky tongue to sweep these insects from the ground, which explains why the Afrikaans translation of its name is “earth wolf”. Its ability to tolerate their toxic defensive secretions has been key to its survival. One individual can consume as many as 300,000 in a night. The termites also provide much of the moisture the aardwolf needs, so it rarely has to drink.
How does it find termites?
The aardwolf relies chiefly on its hearing to locate termites. Unlike an aardvark, which is armed with powerful claws for digging into termite mounds, the delicate aardwolf usually takes surface-foraging termites. This leaves the colony intact, allowing the same patch to provide food over many nights.
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What does an aardwolf do during the day?
It is mainly nocturnal, resting in a den through the heat of the day and emerging at night to forage. In cooler winter weather, when termites are less active after dark, it may forage in the late afternoon instead. An aardwolf can be difficult to spot even where it is present, since its daytime routine tends to keep it out of sight.
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Is an aardwolf solitary?
Spotted and brown hyenas live in family units called clans, but the striped hyena and the aardwolf tend to form long-term breeding pairs instead. An aardwolf breeding pair, along with young from the current or previous year, will share a territory that may be up to 4km2 and is marked using anal gland secretions. Foraging is a solitary activity, because termite patches are too small to share easily.
Unlike its famously communicative cousins, which are known to ‘laugh’, the aardwolf is generally quiet, though it may bark, growl or make a hoarse call when threatened. The black mane hairs will also be raised to make them appear larger and warn off competitors.
How does an aardwolf breed?
Mating commonly takes place around June and July. After a gestation of about 90 days, the female gives birth in a den to a litter of two to five cubs. The male is an unusually attentive father. While the female spends long periods feeding, he guards the den and helps protect the cubs from predators such as the black-backed jackal. A cub remains underground for its first month, is weaned at around three to four months, and may stay within its parents’ territory until it is nearly a year old.
Does the aardwolf face any threats?
The aardwolf is listed as Least Concern by the IUCN and is widespread in suitable habitat. Its specialist diet can even make it welcome on farmland, since it eats termites that may damage grazing land or crops.
Nevertheless, local risks remain. An aardwolf may be killed because it is mistaken for a livestock predator, despite its insect-based diet. Road traffic, poisoning, traps and the destruction of termite colonies can also pose problems. As a species dependent on abundant termites and open grassland, the aardwolf may be vulnerable where climate change alters the habitats on which it depends.
