Aardvark

Orycteropus afer

Least ConcernNear ThreatenedVulnerableEndangeredCritically Endangered

Daily sighting probability Insufficient data

at Golden Gate Highlands National Park

1 Verified sightings at Golden Gate Highlands National Park From 2019 to 2026

37 Verified sightings across all 15 parks From 2019 to 2026

☀️🌙 Day & Night When it's spotted Active throughout day and night

About the Aardvark

The aardvark (Orycteropus afer) is a medium-sized, burrowing, nocturnal mammal native to Africa. The aardvark is the only living member of the genus Orycteropus, the family Orycteropodidae and the order Tubulidentata. The aardvark is an afrotherian, a clade that also includes elephants, manatees, and hyraxes.

It is found over much of the southern two-thirds of the African continent, avoiding areas that are mainly rocky. A nocturnal feeder, the aardvark subsists on ants and termites (myrmecophagy) by using its sharp claws and powerful legs to dig the insects out of their hills, and its long snout to sniff out food. It digs a burrow in which to live and rear its young.

The aardvark is sometimes colloquially called the "African ant bear", "anteater" (not to be confused with the South American anteaters), or the "Cape anteater". The name aardvark is Afrikaans (pronounced [ˈɑːrtfark]) and comes from earlier Afrikaans erdvark. It means 'earth pig' or 'ground pig' (aarde: 'earth', vark: 'pig, young pig'), because of its burrowing habits.

The name Orycteropus means 'burrowing foot', and the name afer refers to Africa. The name of the aardvark's order... Wikipedia →

Global Distribution

Where this species is recorded worldwide. Restricted to human observations from 2019 onwards — the same kind of record and the same period the probabilities on this page are built from, so collar-tracking studies, camera-trap arrays and museum specimens are excluded. Around Santa Rosa that removes 5,924 GPS fixes from a handful of tagged jaguars.

where this species is recorded (GBIF density — it tracks where observers go, not how likely a sighting is) · parks where it occurs — tap a pin for the sighting probability there

Parks Where Found

#	Park	Country	Daily sighting probability
1	Addo Elephant National Park	🇿🇦 South Africa	~10%
2	Kruger National Park	🇿🇦 South Africa	<5%
3	Waterberg Plateau Park	🇳🇦 Namibia	Insufficient data
4	Golden Gate Highlands National Park	🇿🇦 South Africa	Insufficient data
5	Kafue National Park	🇿🇲 Zambia	Insufficient data
6	Nairobi National Park	🇰🇪 Kenya	Insufficient data
7	Liwonde National Park	🇲🇼 Malawi	Insufficient data
8	Tsavo West National Park	🇰🇪 Kenya	Insufficient data
9	Queen Elizabeth National Park	🇺🇬 Uganda	Insufficient data
10	Masai Mara National Reserve	🇰🇪 Kenya	Insufficient data
11	iSimangaliso Wetland Park	🇿🇦 South Africa	Insufficient data
12	Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park	🇿🇦 South Africa	Insufficient data
13	Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park	🇿🇦 South Africa	Insufficient data
14	Tsavo East National Park	🇰🇪 Kenya	Insufficient data
15	Garden Route National Park	🇿🇦 South Africa	Insufficient data

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