Africa is home to some remarkably unusual animals who have evolved extraordinary physical features to help them find food, navigate their surroundings or survive in challenging habitats.
Aardvark/Dušan veverkolog/Unsplash
Others simply look as though they were designed with an unusually vivid imagination. From the long-eared bat-eared fox to the unmistakable aardvark and the tiny giraffe weevil, these animals offer travellers a different way to experience Africa’s wildlife.
Aardvark
Few African animals have a more unusual collection of features than the aardvark. It has long ears, a pig-like snout, powerful claws and a thick tail, all adaptations that help it survive as a nocturnal insectivore. Aardvarks spend much of their time underground and emerge after dark to search for ants and termites. Their powerful claws allow them to excavate burrows, which can later provide shelter for other animals.
They occur across much of South Africa, as well as Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique. Tswalu Kalahari Reserve, Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park and other wildlife reserves in the country’s drier regions offer opportunities for sightings.
Aardwolf
Despite its name and somewhat hyena-like appearance, the aardwolf is a highly specialised insect eater. Its diet consists largely of harvester termites, which it collects using a sticky tongue. Unlike many carnivorous mammals, it does not hunt large prey.
Aardwolves are widespread across South Africa and can be found in suitable grassland and scrub habitats. They are particularly associated with areas where their preferred termites are abundant. Tswalu Kalahari Reserve, Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park and parts of the Eastern Cape are among the places where visitors may encounter them.
Bat-eared fox
Bat-eared fox/Giles Laurent/Wikimedia Commons
The bat-eared fox looks as though someone designed a fox around its ears. Those oversized ears are more than an unusual feature. They help the animal locate insects underground and beneath vegetation. The species is strongly associated with termites and other insects, and its distribution across Southern Africa broadly follows areas where these food sources are available. It occurs in Namibia, Botswana and South Africa, among other countries.
The Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park is one of the better-known destinations for spotting bat-eared foxes, while parts of the Northern Cape and Western Cape also fall within its range.
Honey badger
Bernard DUPONT/Wikimedia Commomns
Compact, powerful and unmistakable, the honey badger is one of Southern Africa’s most distinctive mammals. It belongs to the mustelid family, which also includes otters, weasels and mongooses. Honey badgers have a broad diet that includes small mammals, reptiles, insects and other available food. Despite their name, honey and bee larvae are only part of what they eat.
They are widely distributed but can be difficult to see because they are generally solitary and cover large areas while searching for food. The Kalahari and other dry regions of Southern Africa provide some suitable habitat, including areas around the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park.
Giraffe weevil
Axel Strauß/Wikimedia Commons
For one of the strangest-looking creatures on this list, however, you need to leave Southern Africa altogether.
The giraffe weevil is native to Madagascar, where it has become famous for its extraordinarily long neck. The male’s elongated neck is used during competition with other males and is one of the reasons the insect looks remarkably like a miniature giraffe.
Madagascar is home to an extraordinary number of species found nowhere else on Earth, making it a fascinating destination for travellers interested in unusual wildlife. The giraffe weevil is associated with native forests, where it feeds and reproduces on its host plants.
Wildlife worth looking twice at
These animals demonstrate the extraordinary range of adaptations found across Africa. Aardwolves have specialised diets, aardvarks have powerful digging abilities, bat-eared foxes use their oversized ears to locate prey and honey badgers are remarkably adaptable generalists.
The giraffe weevil takes unusual wildlife to another level, with a physical feature that has evolved for competition between males.
For travellers, finding these species requires patience and an interest in the smaller details of the landscape. Some are nocturnal, others are elusive and several spend much of their time searching for food away from busy tourist routes.
That makes the reward of seeing one in the wild particularly memorable.
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