aardwolf

Everyday

An aardwolf is a small striped animal of southern and eastern Africa, related to the hyena, that eats mainly termites. tree →

In the lessons

Used in science lessons about animals, food chains and adaptation; it licks up thousands of termites each night with its long sticky tongue.

Examples

• The aardwolf eats termites, not big animals. tree →
• An aardwolf can eat over 200,000 termites in one night. tree →
• The aardwolf looks like a small striped hyena. tree →
• Aardwolves sleep in burrows during the day. tree →
• The aardwolf has very small teeth. tree →
• We read about the aardwolf in our book of African animals. tree →

Note

Pronounced ARD-wolf. Name means «earth wolf» in Afrikaans, but it is not a wolf. Plural «aardwolves» (like wolf, wolves). Not the same as the «aardvark», a different termite-eating animal.