Southern Tree Hyrax (Dendrohyrax arboreus) lives in tropical rainforest across Sub-Saharan Africa. It feeds on leaves and fruits. Its conservation status is Least Concern.
Fascinating facts about the Southern Tree Hyrax
- The southern tree hyrax can live at heights of up to 4,500 m. It inhabits high-altitude forests that are part of its broad range across Angola, Zambia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and several other countries. These montane environments are among the many habitats it uses, from temperate and tropical dry forests to moist lowland and savanna woodlands.
- At night the male hyrax announces its territory with a series of blood-curdling shrieks that swell into a crescendo. These calls are heard mainly after dark and serve as territorial signals, with the males doing most of the vocalising. The tree-dwelling hyrax is largely nocturnal, moving through hollow trees and dense foliage while relying on its loud calls to deter rivals. This acoustic display helps maintain spacing between individuals in the forest canopy.
- Females carry the young for seven months before giving birth to one or two fully formed pups that weigh between 170 g and 200 g. At birth the offspring are well developed, able to cling to their mother's fur and begin feeding on leaves and shoots within weeks. This relatively long gestation and the advanced state of the newborns give the juveniles a better chance of surviving the predator-rich environment. They reach sexual maturity at about twelve months old.
- When juvenile southern tree hyraxes are rescued they can put on roughly four percent of their body mass each day when fed a cow-milk formula, a rapid growth rate that can quickly bring a newborn from its tiny birth weight up toward adult size. Newborns weigh only 170-200 g, so a daily gain of about seven grams adds up fast.
- A diverse suite of predators hunt the southern tree hyrax, ranging from martial and tawny eagles to leopards, lions, jackals, spotted hyenas and even snakes. In Rwanda the most frequent threat comes from feral dogs, making them the primary local predator.
Sources
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At a glance
RangeSub-Saharan Africa
HabitatTropical rainforest
DietLeaves and fruits
About the Southern Tree Hyrax
In the mist-shrouded forests of southern Africa, the Southern Tree Hyrax navigates its arboreal realm with an air of quiet confidence, its large, round eyes scanning the surroundings as it moves with deliberate slowness, its padded feet barely making a sound on the moss-covered branches. As it climbs, the hyrax's stocky body weaves through the dense foliage with a surprising agility, its long, pointed snout twitching with every sniff of the damp air. With a soft, high-pitched call, it announces its presence to the forest, a gentle declaration of its existence in this hidden world.
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