Aardvark Facts

[`Aardvarks can eat up to 60 000 ants and termites in one night, thanks to their 30cm-long sticky tongue.`,
`Aardvarks can seal their nostrils, to keep out dust and ants.`,
`Aardvarks have poor eyesight but a very keen sense of smell and good hearing.`,
`Aardvarks have spoon-shaped claws like steel – which can be used to rip into extremely hard ground and termite mounds.`,
`Aardvark burrows, often in termite mounds, can be up to 13m long and have several entrances.`,
`Aardvarks are nocturnal and travel 2 to 5 km (1.2 to 3 miles) every night, foraging for food.`,
`Aardvarks are about the size of a small pig. Typically, they weigh from 110 to 180 lbs. (50 to 82 kilograms).`,
`From head to rump, aardvarks are 43 to 53 inches (109 to 135 centimeters) long, and their tails add another 21 to 26 inches (53 to 66 cm) to their length.`,
`If it stuck its tongue out, an aardvark would be much longer. Their tongues can be up to 12 inches (30.5 cm) long.`,
`Aardvarks live in many different types of habitats, such as grasslands, savannas, rainforests, woodlands and thickets throughout Africa in the areas south of the Sahara.`,
`Aardvarks are solitary animals and only come together to mate.`,
`Aardvarks almost exclusively ants and termites, though they sometimes supplement their diets with other insects like the pupae of scarab beetles.`,
`The aardvark’s tough skin protects them from insect bites, and their nostrils seal up to keep out dust and insects.`,
`Aardvarks can eat up to 50,000 insects each night.`,
`Aardvarks swallow their food whole, without chewing it. Instead, food is ground up in a muscular area of its lower stomach.`,
`Aardvarks rarely drink water and receive most of their moisture from the insects they eat.`,
`Female aardvarks have a gestation of seven months and give birth to one young at a time.`,
`Baby aardvarks are called calves or cubs. Cubs weigh around 4.4 lbs. (2 kg) when they are born.`,
`Aardvarks are also called ant bears.`,
`Aardvarks have four toes on the front feet and five toes on their back feet.`]