Proteles cristatus

Smaller and with a lighter build than the three species of hyena that they are related to, the aardwolf hunts lighter prey. They are creatures active at night, using their extremely acute hearing to detect the sounds of termites, its main food. Once they have located the termites they use their long sticky tongues to capture the termites just like an anteater might. They can also eat other insects, bird’s eggs, smaller mammals or reptiles.

The aardwolves have yellow, red, or brownish coats with dark stripes. It has a more pointed muzzle, thin legs and a bristling mane that can stand upright. They are usually solitary unless there is a group of young ones. They live around a den which can be a small hole/burrow that they dig out themselves. They can also reuse the burrows of other animals such as the aardvark. The prefix “aard” comes from Afrikaans/Dutch and means ground or earth which makes sense when applied to both the aardwolf and aardvark with their burrow lifestyle and given the fact that they eat the termites in the earth. A little of 2-4 young is born in a burrow. After they are weaned, the young are fed regurgitated termites by both parents.