SOMETHING NOT apparent in The Lion King was Pumba the warthog's most remarkable magic trick: the ability to disappear. Surprise a warthog in the African wild and it'll take off like a Formula One driver. Often you can trace its course through the grass by its aerial-like tail, which is at full mast when sprinting. Then, suddenly, it'll vanish as if it had never been there.
Being a favourite dish of so many predators, warthogs are constantly on alert, and they seldom venture far from their burrows, into which they'll escape when threatened. Typically deep and narrow, these underground lairs are where they seek shelter, and rear their young. But warthogs, and many other animals, are in fact rent-free lodgers. They have no part in the design and construction of their homes. That is left to another remarkable creature, the aardvark (which means 'earth pig' in Afrikaans).
I was at Khoisan Karoo Conservancy in South Africa's Northern Cape to see the Shy Five, a pentad of extraordinary creatures on the opposite end of the spectrum to the safari industry's Big Five (leopard, lion, elephant, buffalo and rhino). Safari operators deliver truckloads of tourists to within mobile-phonephoto distance of all five within a week. But ask for an aardvark, bat-eared fox, porcupine, aardwolf or black-footed cat, and your guide will ask nervously: "How long have you got?"
I had three days - two nights to be precise, for that is when the critters typically appear. My expectations were not high; it is notoriously difficult to see any of them, never mind all five on one trip.
DURING THE DAY, CONSERVANCY owner Piet Cronje 'PC' Ferreira drove me to his favourite birding spots in a game-viewing vehicle. PC's family have owned this and neighbouring farmland for generations. He belongs to this soil and has an unbreakable determination run through with bubbling enthusiasm.
This story is from the May 2024 edition of BBC Wildlife.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the May 2024 edition of BBC Wildlife.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Does cloning create identical copies?
EMBRYOS ARE MADE OF STEM CELLS that divide to give rise to different types of cells, everything from skin to brain cells. Scientists once thought that reproductive cloning creating a genetically identical copy of an individual organism - would be impossible without using stem cells and that the path leading to mature 'differentiated' cells was irreversible. But clawed frogs proved them wrong...
Tool-using animals
Our pick of 10 species that exhibit this special skill
Mission Blue
Sylvia Earle has dedicated her life to marine conservation; she tells BBC Wildlife why protecting the ocean is essential to all life on earth
RESHARK
The world's first shark rewilding initiative has seen zebra sharks released in the waters of Indonesia's Raja Ampat archipelago
ON DECK
Ferries aren't just for transport, they're also perfect vessels for conservation
IT'S A COLOURFUL LIFE
Delve into the unique and complex biology of the clownfish, arguably the world's most famous fish
BAHAMAS BENEATH
A dive into the waters of this famous island nation with the creatures that call it home
"To save the reef, we need everybody involved"
Indigenous peoples may hold the key to protecting the Great Barrier Reef
SPINNING AROUND
Going around in circles proves fruitful for this filter-feeder
BLINDED BY THE LIGHT
On balmy evenings, amorous beetles put on a spellbinding show in North American forests