Wildlife and conservation new, wild travel information and links for booking
Rock or cape hyrax has 5 recognized subspecies, again, unsurprising given its vast range. Generally having a hide within a natural rock cavity, Rock hyraxes are social animals that live in colonies of up to 50 individuals. They sleep in one group, and start the day, warming up in the sun
They are also listed as least concern
As or when we get contacts to see these creatures, they will appear beneath the news section
Western tree hyrax, also known as the western tree dassie or Beecroft tree hyrax,
Western tree hyraxes tend to be solitary, and only occasionally are found in groups of two or three. They are nocturnal and generally feed at night. It has been noted that this species is an especially adept climber. The gestation period is about eight months with a litter size one or two young.
It is listed as least concern
Photo credit: Charles J Sharp
Southern tree hyrax It is found in temperate forests, subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical moist montane forests, moist savanna, and rocky areas.
It may be found at elevations up to 4,500m across a wide range of countries, which include Angola, Zambia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, and South Africa.. It is largely nocturnal. The males call is an alarming series of shrieks.
It is listed as least concern.
While these are often a species that you just see, when you stop by a pile of rocks, tourism is likely to help give these curious little mammals some value. I will add links below the news section (though it may take time for it to have any articles listed), as I make them.
As we make connections for places to see these animals they will be added below.
Photo credit: D. Gordon, E. Robertson
Yellow-spotted hyrax, has
a recognized 25 subspecies, though given the vast range of this species, this is perhaps not a surprise. They generally live in rocky areas and rock Kojes, that can be seen littered across savannah
It is listed as least concern, though in some areas it is hunted by humans, which has caused local problems. They are browsers, eating leaves twigs and other edible things it comes across (I have seen one eat a banana skin.
Kruger National Park and Mapungubwe National Park, are two reserves where they can be seen.
Countries containing at least some of their range, include  Angola, Botswana, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, southern Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Somalia, northern South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe
Though rock hyraxes resemble rodents, their closest living relatives are actually elephants and manatees.
Hippopotamus are a fascinating animal. Large, highly aggressive, and spending most of their days in water. For many people, their memory of a Hippopotamus on safari (or in a zoo) is a pond with a grey bump in the middle. But there is far more to a hippopotamus than meets the eyes. Duromg the night, Hippo leave the safety of the water and go into the bush to graze.
They are incredibly dangerous, and there is a far higher risk for people wandering in the bush to be killed by hippo than anything else. In the past, they were one of the few species that still lived in significant numbers outside reserves. Unfortunately, as the human population of Africa has grown, the majority of these free roaming Hippo have been killed – for an African living on a tiny income, a hippo is a huge pile of meat, which can be sold, and some of its teeth are made of ivory.
A rough estimate suggests that the meat is worth around 8000. When you add in the Ivory teeth, it is possible for a Hippo carcass to be worth a years average salary (and that is the mean salary). 85% of Africans survive on $5.50 per day, which works out at almost exactly $2000 – so for 85% of Africans, a hippo carcass is worth 4 years of salary – assuming that you do not make much money from the ivory, and it would not be surprising if this added significantly.
When you look at these numbers, it is not surprising that people poach Hippos -and it makes it very hard to work out how to save them.
Of course, Hippo can be worth far more in tourism dollars over their lifespan.
Common hippopotamus are possible to see in all the Savannahs that we have listed so far. Visit wild places to see the total list.
Below is links to some of the biggest (though as I say, hippo can often be seen in small reserves and in places outside reserves as well. All our savannah wild places have sizable populations of common hippopotamus.
