Our Rhino River Camp safari guides were thrilled to encounter a small pack (or “rout”) of aardwolves on a drive in Meru National Park recently.

The rarely seen aardwolf is an insectivorous mammal native to Africa, found in open dry plains and bushland. They live in family groups consisting of a mated pair and their young and spend much of the day underground in dens, emerging at night to feed.

The aardwolf is closely related to the hyena; however, unlike many of its carnivorous relatives, the aardwolf does not hunt large animals. Its name means “earth-wolf” in Afrikaans and Dutch.

In the images below we can compare various hyenas to the aardwolf (lower right).

Top Left: Spotted Hyena; Top Right: Brown Hyena; Lower Left: Striped Hyena; Lower Right: Aardwolf

Find out more about the mammals seen from our Porini camps here: Porini Camps Mammals Guide …