Aardvark: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the aardvark lives – recorded in 8 countries, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Orycteropus afer
Group	Pangolins, hyraxes & other mammals
Status	Least concern (Wikidata, IUCN category label)
Found in	8 countries
Continents	Africa
Mass	1.9 kg (birth weight)
Class	Mammal
Order	Tubulidentata
Family	Orycteropodidae

Where does the aardvark live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the aardvark in 8 countries and territories across Africa.

Countries with at least a handful of records (a minimum share of the species’ records, to leave out vagrants and escapes). Records with coordinates only; captive and fossil records excluded.

How big is an aardvark?

Wikidata records the following for the aardvark: mass 1.9 kg (birth weight).

Is the aardvark endangered?

The aardvark’s conservation status recorded in Wikidata is “Least concern” (an IUCN Red List category label). Source: Wikidata.

What kind of animal is the aardvark?

The aardvark (Orycteropus afer) is a mammal in the order Tubulidentata and the family Orycteropodidae, genus Orycteropus. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

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.

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Aardvark (revision 1379927579), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q46212 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).