Aardwolf

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(Redirected from Protelinae)

{{taxobox | color=pink | name=Aardwolf | status = Conservation status: Lower risk | image = Aardwolf.png | image_width = 235px | image_caption = Aardwolf | regnum = Animalia | phylum = Chordata | classis = Mammalia | ordo = Carnivora | familia = Hyaenidae | genus = Proteles | species = P. cristatus | binomial = Proteles cristatus | binomial_authority = Sparrman 1783 }}

The Aardwolf (Proteles cristatus) is a small mammal related to the Hyena, native to Africa. The name means "earth wolf" in Afrikaans.

There are two subspecies:

Proteles cristatus cristatus (Southern Africa)
Proteles cristatus septentrionalis (East Africa)

The Aardwolf looks most like the Striped Hyena but smaller with a more pointed muzzle, sharper ears, vertical stripes, and a long mane down the middle line of the neck and back, it is 76 cm (30 in) long excluding it's 30 cm (12 in) tail, it stands about 50 cm at the shoulder, weighs around 9 kg. It has two glands at the rear that secrete a musky fluid for marking territory and communicating with other aardwolves.

Image:Aardwolf.jpg

The Aardwolf is nocturnal, sleeping in underground burrows by day. By night, an Aardwolf can consume up to 200,000 harvester termites. They are also known to feed on other insects, larvae, and eggs.

While primarily solitary, a mating pair will occupy the same territory with their young. Gestation lasts between 90 and 100 days. The first six to eight weeks are spent in the den with the mother. After three months, they begin supervised foraging and set off on their own shortly thereafter.

CIA Nickname

Aardwolf is a nickname used for a CIA report. An aardwolf is a CIA station chief's formal assessment of conditions in his country.

Two aardwolfs are described in State of War: The Secret History of the CIA and the Bush Administration by James Rosen (2006). These aardwolfs were sent to CIA's headquarters by the Iraq Station Chief in Baghdad in August and November, 2003. Both frankly detailed the worsening situation in Iraq. His assessment was at odds with the assessment in Washington, D.C.

The station chief was removed from that post in December 2003 because, "He had committed the unpardonable sin of telling the truth." [Rosen, James. State of War (New York: The Penguin Press, 2006), pp. 127-8, 145-7]

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