Aardvark Picture

Any wildlife photographer will enjoy having an aardvark picture among their work. They are of unique appearance with their pig-like snout, donkey-like ears and bear-like paws. To round it off they have a large heavy tail.

Two Aarvarks (Image: calacademy.org)

Aardvarks out at night

The aardvark is also known as an antbear and grows to roughly half a meter in size.

This strange animal sometimes travels many miles per night in search of ants and termites to reel in with its long tongue. It hunts by criss-crossing over the ground, listening for the movement of its prey under the surface.

Once it finds activity down below, it will use its extremely powerful front legs and claws to dig at high speed into the solid ground.

Their deep burrows must be comfortable: other animals like hyena, warthog and porcupine often move in when the aardvark abandons it.

The aardvark animal is truly unique and is the only species in the scientific order Tubulidentata. It is not part of the anteater group as previously thought. There used to be other animals with enamel-less tube-like teeth (like the aardvark) and hence part of the Tubulidentata order, but they are now all extinct.

Where to take an Aardvark picture

The aardvark is found throughout Africa south of the Sahara.

Chances of spotting and taking an aardvark photo on a regular African safari are very slim, as they are nocturnal, shy and have a particularly sharp sense of hearing.