Southern Lesser Galago/Bushbaby / Mohol Bushbaby

Bushbabies are primates, but they are not monkeys. Along with lemurs, pottos and lorises, they form the primate suborder of prosimians or "pre-monkeys". Like most prosimians, bushbabies are nocturnal and they have a reflective layer in their large eyes that allows them to see in the dark. Prosimians also have an elongated nose, almost like a snout, and are heavily reliant on their sense of smell. Including their relatively long, fluffy-tipped tails, these tiny primates are only about 37cm in length and weigh around 150g when fully grown. They have large orangey-brown eyes encircled by dark fur. Other than that, their fur is grey, with a lighter tummy and white stripe down the pinkish nose. Their ears are large and can be swivelled independently of each other.Until very recently, only 6 species of bushbaby were recognised. However, more intensive studies over the past 2 decades have proven that there are at least 25 different bushbabies, many of which look extremely similar (known as cryptic species). Detailed analysis has shown that some bushbaby species are even more distantly related to each other than humans are to gorillas! Bushbabies inhabit all types of habitat in much of sub-Saharan Africa, except the most southern parts of South Africa. Southern lesser bushbabies (the particular species found at Birds of Eden) can be found in the region between Angola, Tanzania and South Africa. They like to live in semi-arid territories, such as savannah, scrub forest or on forest edges, especially in the vicinity of acacia and mopane trees. Although they are not normally found as far south as Birds of Eden, our animals did just fine during the winter months since they have a heat lamp near their cosy sleeping boxes.