Aardvark
The aardvark is vaguely pig-like in appearance. Its body is stout with a prominently arched back and is sparsely covered with coarse hairs. The limbs are of moderate length, with the rear legs being longer than the forelegs. The front feet have lost the pollex, resulting in four toes, while the rear feet have all five toes. Each toe bears a large, robust nail which is somewhat flattened and shovel-like and appears to be intermediate between a claw and a hoof.
Whereas the aardvark is considered digitigrade, it appears at time to be plantigrade. This confusion happens because when it squats it stands on its soles. A contributing characteristic to the burrow digging capabilities of aardvarks is an endosteal tissue called compacted coarse cancellous bone(CCCB). The stress and strain resistance provided by CCCB allows aardvarks to create their burrows, ultimately leading to a favourable environment for plants and a variety of animals. An aardvark's weight is typically between 60-80 kg. An aardvark's length is usually between 105-130 cm and can reach lengths of 2.2 m when its tail is taken into account. It is 60 cm tall at the shoulder and has a girth of about 100 cm. The aardvark is pale yellowish-grey in colour and often stained reddish-brown by soil. The aardvark's coat is thin, and the animal's primary protection is its tough skin. Its hair is short on its head and tail; however, its legs tend to have longer hair. The hair on the majority of its body is grouped in clusters of 3-4 hairs. The hair surrounding its nostrils is dense to help filter particulate matter out as it digs. Its tail is very thick at the base and gradually tapers.
Habitat
Aardvarks are found in sub-Saharan Africa, where suitable habitat (savannas, grasslands, woodlands and bushland) and food (i.e., ants and termites) is available. They spend the daylight hours in dark burrows to avoid the heat of the day. The only major habitat that they are not present in is swamp forest, as the high water table precludes digging to a sufficient depth. They also avoid terrain rocky enough to cause problems with digging. They have been documented as high as 3,200 m in Ethiopia. They are present throughout sub-Saharan Africa all the way to South Africa with few exceptions. These exceptions include the coastal areas of Namibia, Ivory Coast, and Ghana. They are not found in Madagascar
Diet
The aardvark is nocturnal and is a solitary creature that feeds almost exclusively on ants and termites; the only fruit eaten by aardvarks is the aardvark cucumber. In fact, the cucumber and the aardvark have a symbiotic relationship as they eat the subterranean fruit, then defecate the seeds near their burrows, which then grow rapidly due to the loose soil and fertile nature of the area. The time spent in the intestine of the aardvark helps the fertility of the seed, and the fruit provides needed moisture for the aardvark. They avoid eating the African driver ant and red ants. Due to their stringent diet requirements, they require a large range to survive. An aardvark emerges from its burrow in the late afternoon or shortly after sunset, and forages over a considerable home range encompassing 10-30 km. While foraging for food, the aardvark will keep its nose to the ground and its ears pointed forward, which indicates that both smell and hearing are involved in the search for food. They zig-zag as they forage and will usually not repeat a route for 5–8 days as they appear to allow time for the termite nests to recover before feeding on it again. During a foraging period, they will stop and dig a "V" shaped trench with their forefeet and then sniff it profusely as a means to explore their location. When a concentration of ants or termites is detected, the aardvark digs into it with its powerful front legs, keeping its long ears upright to listen for predators, and takes up an astonishing number of insects with its long, sticky tongue—as many as 50,000 in one night have been recorded. Its claws enable it to dig through the extremely hard crust of a termite or ant mound quickly. It avoids inhaling the dust by sealing the nostrils. When successful, the aardvark's long tongue licks up the insects; the termites' biting or the ants' stinging attacks are rendered futile by the tough skin. After an aardvark visit at a termite mound, other animals will visit to pick up all the leftovers. Termite mounds alone don't provide enough food for the aardvark, so they look for termites that are on the move. When these insects move, they can form columns 10–40 m long and these tend to provide easy pickings with little effort exerted by the aardvark. These columns are more common in areas of livestock or other hoofed animals. On a nightly basis, they tend to be more active during the first portion of the night time (20:00-00:00); however, they don't seem to prefer bright or dark nights over the other. During adverse weather or if disturbed they will retreat to their burrow systems. They cover between 2-5 k per night; however, some studies have shown that they may traverse as far as 30 k in a night.
Breeding
Aardvarks pair only during the breeding season; after a gestation period of seven months, one cub weighing around 1.7–1.9 kg is born during May–July. When born, the young have flaccid ears and many wrinkles. When nursing, it will nurse off each teat in succession. After two weeks, the folds of skin disappear and after three, the ears can be held upright. After 5–6 weeks, body hair starts growing. It is able to leave the burrow to accompany its mother after only two weeks and eats termites at 9 weeks, and is weaned between three months and 16 weeks. At six months of age, it is able to dig its own burrows, but it will often remain with the mother until the next mating season, and is sexually mature from approximately two years of age.
Population
According to the IUCN Red List, they are classed as least concern(LC). Current population trends are not known. In southern Africa, there is little reason to believe that they are decreasing or increasing significantly due to any factors other than natural variations due to the variable nature of the habitats they occupy. However, in eastern, central, and western Africa, numbers may be declining as a result of the expansion of human populations, the destruction of habitat, and hunting for meat. This has not been quantified due to logistical difficulties in conducting field studies. Densities vary according to habitat suitability, including the abundance of prey.
Threats
Potential threats to the species have not been quantified. However, the bushmeat trade in African savannas may pose a genuine threat to Aardvark populations in some countries (e.g. Zambia, Mozambique). Localized threats include habitat loss due to agriculture and subsistence hunting. Indigenous hunters in the Congo kill Aardvarks trapped in burrows, and Mbuti pygmies in the Ituri Forest in the Democratic Republic of the Congo smoke them out of their burrows. The meat is prized, while other parts of the Aardvark, such as the skin, claws and teeth, are used to make bracelets, charms and curios, and for some medicinal purposes. In western Kenya, local hunters flooded burrows to kill animals for food.
Conservation
The severity of the threat of bushmeat hunting and habitat loss to the conservation of Aardvark populations is unknown, but Aardvarks are present in a number of large and well-managed protected areas across their range. No targeted conservation measures are recommended at present, but this should be revisited if further data become available. Aardvarks can reproduce successfully in captivity and the zoo populations are increasing in the northern hemisphere.