The first noun in the dictionary ...?

What’s the nosey hole digging, elephant shrew like, earth pig called? Why – an aardvark! Was the name chosen because it enjoys notoriety, since it is often the first noun, and often the first illustrated entry, in many English dictionaries? No – Aardvark comes from the Afrikaans/Dutch for “earth pig” (‘aarde’ earth, ‘varken’ pig), because early European settlers in South Africa thought it resembled a domesticated pig.

Karoo landscape, South Africa

As it happens it is not closely related to the pig; rather it is the sole representative of an obscure mammalian order; nor is it related to the South American anteater, though it shares some characteristics, a superficial resemblance and the name “anteater”, having other names such as antbear, or the Cape anteater.

The aardvark's range in sub-Saharan Africa

This nocturnal, solitary, power animal is capable of digging at great speed to get away or seal a tunnel in times of danger, but otherwise moves fairly slowly. Their burrows can be deep and extensive, have several entrances and can be as long as 13 metres (40 feet); they change the layout of their home burrow regularly and from time to time move to make a new one; old burrows which ecologically are of considerable importance to a wide variety of animals, are then adopted as homes by the porcupines, pythons, warthogs, jackals, hyenas, leopards, wild dogs or wild cats.

Their foraging range is quite large and they have a few temporary burrows spread around to use as quick getaways. The aardvark hunts with its long nose swinging it from side to side to pick up the scent of food. When a concentration of termites or ants is detected, the aardvark digs into it with its powerful front legs, sealing its nostrils to avoid the dust, while keeping its long ears upright to listen to predators, then can take up an astonishing number of insects with its long sticky tongue – as many as 50,000 in one night have been recorded.

Aardvark mother and young

In African folklore the aardvark is much admired because of its diligent quest for food and its fearless response to soldier ants – its long tongue, as long as 30 cm (12 inches), with its tough skin renders the termites’ biting and the ants’ stinging futile. The aardvark eats a fruit known as the aardvark cucumber to quench its thirst.

Veld and Flora December 1995, journal of the Botanical Society of South Africa

This “cucumber” surprised Kew’s authorities in 1923 as they could not believe that there is a symbiotic relationship between the aardvark and this fruit. As this is the only plant food the aardvark eats, the seeds are then taken into its burrow, where they sprout from the dung, staying cool underground as they grow, and not being burnt by the hot African sun. When we were in Namibia we saw similar plants – the Namib Tsamma is a member of the pumpkin family, and the Nara Butternut – where the woody rootstocks are kept cool and can tap into the underground water, or stay protected until the rains come.

The aardvark’s main predators are lions, leopards, hunting dogs and pythons. The aardvark digs fast or runs in zigzag fashion to elude enemies, but if all else fails they will strike with their claws, tail and shoulders, sometimes flipping onto their backs to lash with all fours. Their thick skin protects them to some extent.

Termite mound in Tanzania

The aardvark lives in sub-Saharan Africa, where there is suitable habitat, such as savannas, grasslands, woodlands and bushland, and available food – termite mounds, or ant heaps. This earth pig whose closest relatives are the extraordinary named mismatches of elephant shrews (who ever heard of an elephant shrew?), the sirenians, hyraxes, tenrecs and that lumbering giant, an elephant.

They are seldom seen, but we are constantly reminded of their presence in the African bush with their large holes, or on occasion a large bump and collapse into a hole – rather an irritating consequence of being on safari! Long live that first noun in the dictionary – the Aardvark.

Dear Mr Postman – this was meant to be a shorter, less complicated post .. so I can do three longer posts a week, and three or four shorter ones concentrating on one subject or just brief overviews. We’ll see! My mother will still enjoy them – as they’ll remind her of our times in Africa ..

Hilary Melton-Butcher
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