Every week I sit and ponder about a topic for the blog. I reminisce about happenings since my last entry and then suddenly like a bolt of lightning it hits me – an unsystematic thought triggers somewhere in my subconscious and I have my topic.
This week it is most definitely rare and unusual animals – with the recent event that an Aardvark was spotted on evening safari. As a guide there are a handful of animals that are a couple of species that almost always eludes you. I know guide who have been in the industry for more than 20 years and still have not laid eyes on some of the rarities. As a guest to South Africa and on Safari, seldom does one realize what a privilege it can be to spot one of these mysterious creatures. It is also going to be very hard to put photographs with my blog this week – as you can imagine.
Firstly for me it has to be the Pangolin, what an obscure little creature, it sort of resembles the Armadillo – but not quite. It has massive scales that cover its entire body, these scales make up almost 20% of its body mass. The scales are made of keratin, which is the same as our finger nails, animal horns and hair. Sadly these scales are used in traditional medicines – resulting in the trapping and poaching of Pangolin. The scales have a cutting action, worked by powerful muscles, and can inflict serious wounds on anything inserted between them.
It has the strangest set of legs/paws/claws that I have ever seen! They have very long claws on their front legs to help them open ant hills, thus making it almost impossible for the Pangolin to walk; he then uses his back legs. It looks incredibly out of the ordinary when they “waddle” down the road.
The Pangolin lives in a burrow and mostly moves about at night, making it a nocturnal animal. They like to eat ants, termites and other insects which they lap up with their long tongue (which can be up to 16 inches!)They do not have teeth, but possess a gizzard like stomach to aid in digesting their food. They have very bad eyesight but an incredible sense of smell, this is how they locate ant’s nests and Termite mounds. Due to the lack of scales on their snout, eyes, ears and underbelly all Pangolins can roll themselves into a ball, and it takes considerable effort and strength to unroll them. This is to protect themselves from predators – they young will creep underneath the mother’s stomach and she will roll herself into a ball – protecting her offspring.
Being very secretive and nocturnal – scientists know very little about their behaviour in the wild. So you can envision how special and rare a sighting of this astonishing little creature is.
Secondly it has to be the Aardvark. It is the only species in its order and is literally like no other animal on earth. The Aardvark’s name means “Earth Pig” but it is not related to pigs. There are some similarities like the sparseness of hair on their bodies are course, their back is arched and they seem to have a snout on the end of their narrow face. But they also have ears like a rabbit, webbed feet like a duck, claws like a bear and the tail of a kangaroo! The long tongue resembles that of an anteater, but they do not belong to that family either, they truly are one of a kind.
Aardvarks are nocturnal, solitary and somewhat nomadic. They can be found where there are plentiful ant’s nests and Termite mounds, as this is their preferred food. They use their bear-like claws to dig into the earth and scoop up the termites with their long sticky tongues. A Aardvark can lap up about 50, 000 termites in one sitting! They have incredibly thick and tough skin, to protect themselves from the bites and stings of their prey. The tough skin also helps them against predators and they will not hesitate to use their claws when defending themselves. The Aardvark is hunted by Wild Dog, Lion, Cheetah, Leopard and Python.
Very little is known about their mating and reproduction as they are solitary and nocturnal, much like the Pangolin.
These are only two of the weird and wonderful creatures that we find in Africa, fascinating to say the least, if you are fortunate enough to spot one whilst on safari you will be exceptionally lucky. And if you manage to snap a photograph – well then you will most certainly be the envy of many a ranger and guide.
*Justine Ferreira