Yellow-spotted rock hyrax

Yellow-spotted rock hyrax

Bush hyrax

Kingdom
Phylum
Subphylum
Class
Order
Family
Genus
SPECIES
Heterohyrax brucei
Weight
2457
87
goz
g oz 

The yellow-spotted rock hyrax or bush hyrax (Heterohyrax brucei ) is a species of mammal in the family Procaviidae. It is found in 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. Its natural habitats are dry savanna and rocky areas. Hyrax comes from the Greek word ὕραξ, or shrew-mouse.

Te

Terrestrial

Y

starts with

Distribution

Geography

Populations of the bush hyrax are native to Africa. They have been observed to live as far north as Sudan and Eritrea and east throughout the Horn of Africa. They also live as far south as the Limpopo Province in South Africa. Additionally, isolated populations are known to be in the south-west of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola.

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Their habitats are restricted to rocky kopjes (rocky, elevated areas on a generally flat plain), sheer rock faces (krantzes), and piles of large boulders. They live in openings with at least 1 m2 of space and a height of 11 cm. Rocky habitats are suitable living spaces because there are many crevices for the hyraxes to nest, and seek shelter from weather and predators. They also live at varying elevations from sea level to 3,800 m.

Studies have reported bush hyraxes to live in colonies of sometimes hundreds of animals with population densities ranging between 20 and 53 individuals per hectare. Family units are polygynous, usually five to 34 animals with one dominant male and three to seven females and many juveniles of both sexes. Other adult males tend to live on the periphery of the territory of dominant males.

In the Matobo National Park, Zimbabwe, populations have experienced considerable declines since 1978. Droughts in the park are considered as a causal factor in this decline. However, predation is also reported to be high in this region, and a 52-61% mortality rate within the first year of life was reported for the bush hyrax.

The bush hyraxes, H. brucei, are known to live with rock hyraxes, Procavia capensis and Procavia johnstoni However, different species of hyraxes do not interbreed because their sex organs vary significantly. Some behaviors observed in populations of rock and bush hyraxes include caring for each other's young by sharing nurseries and inhabiting the same rock crevices. The associations observed between these hyraxes is variable and in Zimbabwe, they often overlap habitats near parturition (the time of giving birth).

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Habits and Lifestyle

Lifestyle

Diet and Nutrition

The bush hyrax is a browser in regards to its eating habits. They spend 80% of foraging time browsing on twigs, leaves, buds, flowers and forbs. Only rarely will they consume grass. Additionally, one study reported that a colony of bush hyraxes in Zambia feeds on the leaves of bitter yams. Another study in Kenya reported that while they do not routinely feed on grasses they rely on grasses during wet seasons. Furthermore, it has been reported that in the Serengeti National Park hyraxes feed in the morning and evening, eating more in the wet season in comparison to the dry season. Group feeding is common and occurs up to 50 m from the colony's shelter. However, casual feeding also occurs but at shorter distances from living space, up to 20 m, and consists of eating large amounts of food in an average of 20 minutes. Bush hyraxes have also been known to climb trees in order to obtain food.

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Since their habitat is dry with scarce water, they obtain all the water they need from the vegetation they consume.

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Mating Habits

PREGNANCY DURATION
229 days
BABY CARRYING
1.9

The bush hyrax has been recorded to live over 10 years in the wild, with an average lifespan of 12 years. Males and females reach sexually maturity between 16 and 17 months of age.

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Sexually mature females breed annually and breeding seasons vary based on geographic location. Peak birth rates among colonies in Kenya occur between February and March, in Zimbabwe March, and in the Serengeti, Tanzania between December and January. Breeding seasons are 7–8 months prior to when these peak birth rates have been observed based on length of gestation. Females of colonies living at high elevation enter estrus as the photoperiod increases. Their estrus cycle is 1–5 days. For example, in the Serengeti, there is a discrete mating season of seven weeks in which females with enter estrus several times for several days each. This also synchronizes births among colonies, with all breed females giving birth within three week of each other. Litter sizes vary between 1-3 young but average at between 1.6 and 2.1 depending on geographic location. They are born weighing 220 g to 230 g and are open-eyed, furred, able to follow adults out of the nest within several hours of birth. Young are suckled for 1–6 months before they are weaned.

Juvenile mortality rate is high due to predation. Rock pythons, leopards, birds of prey, mongooses, and other small carnivores prey upon the bush hyrax. One study conducted between 1992-95 estimated that juvenile mortality was 52.4%-61.3% per annum.

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Population

Conservation

The Heterohyrax is on the IUCN least concern list for threatened species. It has no major threats, though it is locally hunted in some regions. Communities within the Matobo hills are reliant upon the hyraxes as a main protein source. Other people groups have been known to hunt the hyrax when other food sources are scarce.

References

1. Yellow-spotted rock hyrax Wikipedia article - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow-spotted_rock_hyrax
2. Yellow-spotted rock hyrax on The IUCN Red List site - https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/9997/21283287

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