WELCOME TO MY FIRST ANIMAL CHARACTER POST
I've decided to draw a South African Animal Character from A-Z and naturally I'm beginning with the Amazing Aardvark. I have only ever been lucky enough to see one Aardvark in the wild, they are nocturnal and not commonly seen. I'm still on the lookout for the next one though.
THE INCREDIBLE AARDVARK or ANTBEAR
Aardvark can be literally translated from the Afrikaans to "Earth Pig". This is quite a good description of them since they dig deep burrows to find termites and ants and spend most days underground in these earth burrows. They also have a vaguely pig like appearance with the snout and wrinkly skin covered with bristly hairs.
Their incredibly strong front claws allow them to rip through the cement like termite mounds with ease. They then use their long sticky tongue to slurp up delicious termites and ants.
Aardvark occur throughout the savannah areas of sub-saharan Africa, but are nowhere common.
Here is my Aardvark character sketch.
Zuri Orphanage run by a vet in Namibia has managed to raise two orphaned Aardvark. Check out this delightful video of the vet playing with the aardvark (which she named E.T because of his alien-like appearance) and her dogs.
