Page 100 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - South Africa

98  WILD SOUTH AFRIC A

Small Mammals Family

South Africa is best-known for its rich megafauna, but the Many of these animals are
country also supports a fascinating variety of smaller and evolutionary one-offs. For
instance, the aardvark is
more obscure mammals. These range from diverse and highly the only living member
conspicuous orders such as the rodents and bats, which keen of the order Tubulidentata.
observers are likely to encounter on a daily basis, to the more By contrast, pigs belong to
quirky and elusive aardvark and pangolin, both of which the same order as giraffes,
camels and antelopes.
come close to topping the wish list of seasoned safari-goers.
Hyrax
Order: Hyracoidea • Best Seen: Table Mountain,
Mapungubwe, uKhahlamba-Drakensberg
All Species: LC
Endemic to Africa, hyraxes are dwarfish relicts
of a once-prolific near-ungulate order more
closely related to elephants than to any other
living creature. The Cape rock hyrax (or dassie)
Procavia capensis is a conspicuous resident of
A pangolin, with its thick armour-plated scaling rocky slopes, where it lives in territorial family
groups of up to 20 individuals. Confined to the
Ground Pangolin forests of the eastern coastal belt, the seldom-
Family: Manidae • Best Seen: Kgalagadi seen southern tree hyrax Dendrohyrax arboreus is
Most Species: LC best-known for its terrifying, banshee-like call.
Also known as scaly anteaters, pangolins are
unobtrusive nocturnal insectivores whose name
derives from the Malay penguling, a reference to
their habit of curling into a tight ball when
dis turbed. The savannah-dwelling ground
pangolin is the only species found in South
Africa, where it is more or less confined to the
northern border regions. Weighing up to 18 kg
(40 lb), it is exceptionally unlikely to be seen
in the wild. Hyraxes spend long periods basking in the sun

Cape Porcupine
Species: Hystrix africaeaustralis • Best Seen:
Sabi Sands
LC
Porcupines are the largest of African rodents,
though the species found in South Africa is not
quite so bulky as its 27-kg (60-lb) East African
Aardvarks use clawed feet to dig into termite mounds counterpart. It is coated in long black-and-white
quills, which occasionally betray its presence by
Aardvark rattling as it walks.
Species: Orycteropus afer • Best Seen: Sabi Sands, Kruger,
Pilanesberg
LC
One of the most peculiar of African mammals,
the aardvark – a Dutch name meaning earth
pig – weighs up to 80 kg (176 lb). It is a shy,
strictly nocturnal insectivore with a stout body,
an arched back, pinkish skin, a heavy tail not
unlike a kangaroo’s and long, upright ears. It
uses its elongated snout and a long, retractable
sticky tongue to snaffle up as many as 50,000
termites in one night. The long quills of the porcupine are modified hair
IUCN status LC: Least Concern

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