CLASSIFICATION

Class: Mammalia

Order: Primates

Family: Galagidae

Species: Lesser Bushbaby - Galago moholi

           Thick-Tailed Bushbaby - Otolemur crassicaudatus

 

SIZE

Bushbabies are one of the smallest primate species weighing as little as 150g and up to 2kg.

 

DISTRIBUTION & HABITAT

Bushbaby populations are distributed all over Africa, mostly preferring tropical and coastal forests, and woodland savannah.

 

DIET

Bushbabies are omnivorous with a diet consisting of mainly fruits, insects and tree gums, and some small animals.

 

BEHAVIOUR & SOCIETY

There are two species of Bushbaby found in South Africa - the Lesser Bushbaby and the Thick-Tailed (Greater) Bushbaby. Also known in Afrikaans as "nagapie", which literally translates to "little night monkey", these small prosimians have adapted to night life. Their large eyes and acute hearing make them specially equipt to hunt for their favourite insects in the dark.

 

Bushbabies use calls and urine scent marking to contact each other. While not as gregarious as the other South African primate species, Bushbabies do live in social groups usually consisting of females, with males overlapping into female territory. A male will usually have an established territory where he mates with all of the females in his territory.

 

Bushbabies are excellent jumpers, and are said to be capable of jumps six to nine times better than those of frogs.