Aardwolf

Proteles Cristatus

The Aardwolf is the smallest kind of hyena. Its name means "Earth wolf" in africaans. It eats termites and other small animals, and looks like a small, striped hyena.

Habits

The Aardwolf is a pretty small predator, and it lives alone, excpet when raising youngs. It marks its territory with scent from anal glands, just as other hyenas. It's a nocturnal animal but it can be active during the daylight. The Aardwolf spend most of the day underground in abandoned dens of other animals, many times taken from aardvarks, because of their proximity to an abundant termite supply, or in dens they digs themselves. The Aardwolfs worst enemies are Pythons, lions, leopards, and humans. The aardwolf can erect the hair on its mane to appear twice its normal size for defense against predators and as a display to another aardwolf. This look very special! The Aardwolf is generally placed in the family Hyaenidae but separated by some authorities as the family Protelidae. The aardwolf lives on the open, grassy plains of southern and eastern Africa. There are two geographically separate populations, one centered in South Africa and the other extending from central Tanzania northward to southern Egypt. They prefer Open country and grassland; also savanna, scrub, and rocky areas, it avoids woodlands and mountains.

This Aardwolf is telling us not to come closer!

Family life and breeding

Males are generally solitary and associate with females only to mate. After a gestation period of 90-110 days, the female gives birth to 2 - 5 cubs, usually 3 or 4, of which 2 -3 at most will survive. Females raise the young collectively in small groups, that is, they are not particular about whose young they nurse. When the youngs are about 4 months old, they can find termites and other insects on their own. When the Aardwolfs doesn't have any cubs, they lives alone and are shy animals.

Food & Hunting

The aardwolf feeds on insects, mainly termites and larvae, but won't hesitate to snack on a rodent should come its way, or a bird egg. The aardwolf feeds largely on termites, particularly on the species Trinervitermes trinervoides. It appears to locate its prey mainly by sound, but the strong-smelling defense secretions of soldier termites probably provide an additional stimulus. Its claws are not strong enough to tear open termite mounds so it must lick them off surfaces or dig them out of soft soil. It has a long tacky tongue to lick up termites. The jaws are weak and the cheek teeth are very small and widely spaced but the canine teeth are sharp and reasonably powerful.

An aardwolf looking for food.

Did you know this about the Aardwolf?

• Even if the hyenas may look like dogs, they are closer relatives with lions and cats!
• The Spotted hyena is the biggest hyena, while the aardwolf is the smallest!
• When attacked, as by dogs, the aardwolf emits a musky-smelling fluid and may fight
• Aardwolfs only weighs 3 - 4 kg!

More Facts about the Aardwolf:

Size:

Body lenght: 80 cm

Tail lenght: 30 cm

Height: 30 - 40 cm

Weight: 3 - 4 kg

Breeding:

pregnant in: 90 - 110 days

Number of cubs: 2 - 5

Lifestyle:

Habits: Lives alone

Food: mainly termites, but also small mammals, reptiles and bird eggs

Life lenght: 14 years in captivity

Sounds like: barks and growl.

closely related relatives:

There are 3 more species of hyena; the Brown hyena (Hyaena Brunnea), Striped hyena (Hyaena Hyaena) and Spotted hyena (Crocuta Crocuta).

Occrurrence:

There are two geographically separate populations: one centered in South Africa and the other extending from central Tanzania northward to southern Egypt! It is rare in some areas because of human hunting and habitat destruction.

How to recognize an aardwolf:

Mane: The Aardwolf has a big and rough mane. When the hair stands on end, it makes the Aardwolf look bigger.

Coat: The aardwolf looks almost like a small striped hyena! It is yellowish with vertical black stripes and a bushy, black-tipped tail.

Size: This is the smallest hyena!

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