

Bushbaby
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.