The aardwolf, whose name means “earth wolf” in Afrikaans, is a shy nocturnal member of the hyena family that lives a life completely different from its scavenging relatives. Instead of hunting large prey, it survives almost entirely on termites. Using its sharp hearing and sense of smell, the aardwolf locates surface-foraging termites and laps them up with its long, sticky tongue. Remarkably, it does not destroy termite colonies, allowing them to repopulate and provide a continuous food source.