Today on Animal Fact Files we’re discussing aardwolves. Though their name means “earth
wolf” and they have a doglike appearance, like their relatives the hyenas, aardwolves are
more closely related to cats. Aardwolves are native to Africa. There are two populations:
one in southern Africa and one in eastern Africa, but they're separated by wet forests.
Aardwolves live in dry savannah and scrublands but not forests and deserts. They’re nocturnal and
shy. Some people have never even heard of them; had you before clicking on this video?
Aardwolves use the abandoned burrows of aardvarks, springhares, and porcupines.They move once at
least every eight weeks and spend their days resting in these underground dens. They'll also
dig out their own burrows if needed. They have five toes on their front feet and four on their
back. Like hyenas, they have longer front legs than back legs giving them a sloped appearance.
Aardwolves are the smallest of the hyena family standing less than three feet (91cm) tall at the
shoulders and weighing 18 to 31 pounds (8-14kg). Males and females have no sexual dimorphism
so neither is larger than the other. Aardwolves look a lot like their
striped hyena family members, and some suggested this may be a form of mimicry,
but there isn’t enough information available to substantiate this.
Aardwolves are separated from hyenas because they are unable to crush bone; instead they
have peglike molars to crush termites. Aardwolves are insectivores, and they almost exclusively eat
termites. They locate these insects by sound and sight. Unlike aardvarks, aardwolves don't
dig into a mound, they just lick the insects from the soil’s surface with their broad,
sticky tongue. In a single night, an individual aardwolf can eat more than 200,000 termites! Some
termites can release toxins to ward off predators, but aardwolves seem to have no reaction to this
and just keep right on licking! They also eat eggs, mice, and carrion though this is in smaller
quantities. Aardwolves don't depend on water if they've had enough to eat because they get
moisture from their food! Though aardwolves forage alone, they share a territory with a partner. This
is defended with strong scent marking from their anal glands called pasting. They’ll rub their bums
against objects around their range to let others know that they live there. When confronted with a
stranger, they'll become aggressive and raise the hairs along their neck to make their body appear
larger. Some of these neck hairs can be more than half a foot (15cm) long when fully erect!
Mating happens around June and July and a male may mate with multiple females if adjoining males
are weaker. A female gestates three months and gives birth to 2-5 cubs in the den. They
remain here for a month before starting to venture outside. The den is fiercely defended by the male,
but babies may be taken by black backed jackals. Adult aardwolves have no natural predators but
humans may kill them out of fear for their livestock, unfortunately this has a reverse effect
because aardwolves eat the termites that would eat the grass their livestock would otherwise eat.
Not all termites eat wood. All of this is to say that with fewer aardwolves to eat the termites,
there could be more termites eating the grass the farmer’s livestock would otherwise consume. It’s
an education issue more than anything else. We hope this video sheds some light on this topic.
Fortunately, aardwolves currently have stable populations. They're just rarely seen because
they mostly come out at night. Juvenile aardwolves take a few months to become independent and remain
in their parents territory until the following year when the breeding season begins anew. It's
unknown how long they live in the wild but they have survived to nearly 20 years old in captivity.
For more facts on aardwolves, check out the links below. Give a thumbs up if you
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