Aardvarks

**Aardvarks** are mammals that appear in *The Lion Guard* universe. They live in the Pride Lands.

## Appearance

Aardvarks are mammals with coarse brown fur, long ears, and elongated heads. Their tails, underbellies, and parts of their faces are paler than the rest of them.They have sharp front claws that they use to burrow and find food. The front feet have four toes each, and the back feet have five toes each.

## Information

### In the Real World

Aardvarks are nocturnal animals that spend the day in their burrows and the nights searching for food. Aardvarks eat termites and ants, and will use their strong claws to dig into a termite mound and their long, sticky tongues to catch and eat them. They will also eat *Cucumis humifructus,* also known as the aardvark cucumber. Aardvark females usually give birth to one cub a year.

### In *The Lion Guard*

It is noted that one of the aardwolves' favorite places to sleep is empty aardvark dens.

## History

### The Lion Guard

The two aardvarks Muhanga and Muhangus are mates and serve as minor characters in *The Lion Guard.* They appear occasionally throughout the series.

### Can't Wait to be Queen

Muhangus can be seen getting married to Muhanga during the song Duties of the King.

### The Kupatana Celebration

On the day of Kupatana, Muhangus and his mate Muhanga return to their dens to discover that they had been invaded by jackal pups. Muhangus asks what's going on, and Beshte attempts to calm things down, assuring him that the situation can be taken care of. When Kion arrives, the parents of the jackal pups, Reirei and Goigoi, approach him. Muhangus spots Goigoi reaching into his den and taking a fruit, and angrily calls him out for it. Reirei intervenes, complimenting their den, and Goigoi swallows the fruit and tells Muhangus that the fruit is delicious. Muhangus points out that he never said Goigoi could eat it, and Muhanga accuses the jackals of thievery. Eventually, the Lion Guard convinces the jackals to leave, and Reirei explains to her pups that they'll find someplace else to go. An irritated Muhangus tells them to go do so. Muhangus later appears during the song Jackal Style. One jackal pup makes a face at him, and Muhangus chases him away, allowing another jackal pup to lie down in front of his den. He surrounds the jackal family with the other Pride Landers at the end of the song.

### The Call of the Drongo

Muhangus is seen settling down with several insects, ready to tuck in. However, a voice claiming to be Janja frightens him away. Along with a couple of other animals, he tracks down the Lion Guard, explaining what happened. Kion follows Muhangus back to where his food was, though not only is Janja nowhere to be found, Muhangus' insect pile has vanished. When everyone returns, they discover that similar happenings have occurred between the other animals. A voice sounding exactly like Janja  startles them, and Muhangus stays behind to let the Lion Guard deal with the 'intruder'.

### Too Many Termites

A pack of aardwolves take up residence in an aardvark den. Believing them to be hyenas, their inhabitants have the Lion Guard drive them away. Later, Simba informs the Guard that aardwolves like to sleep in aardvark dens.

### The Rise of Scar

Muhangus chants with other animals as they wait for Ma Tembo to find the new water source.

### The Underground Adventure

When Kion, Bunga, Kiara, Zuri, and Tiifu play around in the mud pond, Muhangus gets annoyed and says that he is trying to sleep. Later on, Kion and the others manage to get lost inside Muhangus' burrow and as Kion and Bunga find where Muhangus is, he is fast asleep. Kion tries to wake him up but to no avail then Bunga yells at him to wake up. Muhangus wakes up and is startled at Bunga's yelling so startled that he even falls of his nest Muhangas is so furious at them for waking him up they offer him to help get them out but he refuses at first but agrees if it means getting rid of them but just as Thurston ​​​​​​thinks they're trapped he starts to panic and go crazy Muhangus demands he'd stop or else the cave will collapse but Thurston keep on panicking until Muhangas eventually cried "EVERY ANIMAL FOR HIMSELF", and digs his way to safety back to his nest leaving the others without any help from him.

### Beshte and the Beast

After Shujaa assists the Lion Guard in defeating the Army of Scar, his actions accidentally cause a bit of damage to the Pride Lands, including the coverage of Muhangus' den entrances. Beshte helps out by moving the majority of boulders away from the holes, but Muhangus notices one more. Shujaa offers to help, flinging the boulder away but causing more damage in the process.

### The Fall of Mizimu Grove

Muhangus' Armory comes to watch the show at Mizimu Grove. However the Army of Scar interupts the show. Soon Young Aardvark is seen being chased by Cheezi and Chungu but is saved by Simba. A short while after Scar reveals himself in front of the Pride Landers. After explaining his plans he disappears and the herds start to panic and run. Once all calmed they start talking about leaving the Pride Lands. The next morning they meet at Pride Rock. Everyone follows Kion back to Mizimu Grove where Makini's Mpando Mpaya survvied the attack. Everyone agrees to stay in the Pride Lands and Makini plants her baobab tree.

## Notable Aardvarks in *The Lion Guard*

* **Muhangus' Armory**
	+ **Muhangus**
	+ **Muhanga**
	+ **Young Aardvark**

## Trivia

* In Afrikaans "aard" means "earth" and "vark" means pig.