Recently I was privileged enough to see one of the most difficult animals to see in the whole African continent. My guests and I stopped for a classic sundowner drink at Mankwe hide, when I heard lions vocalizing on the other side of Mankwe dam. I quickly got all my guests back onto the vehicle with drinks and all, we then set of to go and find the lions, but what we found will be remembered forever.
We went driving down Mankwe way and spotted only the usual impala and wildebeest along the way. Just as I was about to lose all hope there it was . . . AARDVARK! At a first glimpse I thought it was a scrub hare with its ears upright, but then I took my binoculars and saw the only animal that is endemic to Africa. It was the first time I ever saw one in the 2 years of being a ranger and I was absolutely stoked about it. Aardvark is by nature a very nocturnal animal and very rare to see them, every ranger regards it as a golden sighting. An aardvark can be up to 1.7m long and weigh as much as 60kg, with a life expectancy of about 20 years. Their main food source is ants and termites hence their name “aardvark” which means “earth pig” and makes a reference to their habit of digging and living in holes. A whole array of other animals uses empty aardvark holes as their homes.
Aardvark has powerful claws which they use to open up termite mounts and stick in their pig like snout to suck out termites like a vacuum cleaner. Also interesting about aardvark is their teeth that never stop growing, due to the fact that they get grinded down by the amount of sand in the diet of an Aardvark.
It was really an amazing sighting for me and my guests and hopefully I can see one again soon. Till next time remember that real men don’t stand on ants.
Ranger
Gerhard
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