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  4. Hyraxes

Species group · Mammals

Hyraxes

WAnimals has 3 species of hyrax, in the family Procaviidae.

3 species
1 family
47 countries
36 parks
Weight
1.3 kg – 4.5 kg
Length
30.5 cm – 60 cm
Lifespan
8 – 12 years

Ranges calculated from the profiles that record the figure, not from all 3.

All 3 species of hyraxes on WAnimals

Each one has its own full profile. This group does not replace them: it brings them together.

Rock HyraxLeast Concern

Rock Hyrax

Procavia capensis

17 countries7 parks
Least Concern

Bush Hyrax

Heterohyrax brucei

44 countries18 parks
Least Concern

Southern Tree Hyrax

Dendrohyrax arboreus

9 countries13 parks

Conservation status

3 Least Concern

No species documented in this group is genuinely at risk according to the IUCN, with the data available today.

Where they live

Recorded in 47 countries. The ones with the most species in the group:

  • Ethiopia3
  • Kenya3
  • Malawi3
  • Mozambique3
  • South Africa3
  • Tanzania3
  • Zimbabwe3
  • Angola2
  • Botswana2
  • Democratic Republic of the Congo2
  • Egypt2
  • Eswatini2
  • Lesotho2
  • Namibia2
  • Uganda2
  • Zambia2
  • Benin1
  • Burkina Faso1
  • Burundi1
  • Cameroon1
  • Central African Republic1
  • Chad1
  • Côte d’Ivoire1
  • Djibouti1

Where to see them

  • Fish River Canyon2 species
  • Kruger National Park2 species
  • Ai-Ais Richtersveld1 species
  • Augrabies Falls1 species
  • Awash1 species
  • Bale Mountains1 species
  • Drakensberg (uKhahlamba)1 species
  • Etosha1 species
  • Garden Route1 species
  • Golden Gate Highlands1 species
  • Gorongosa1 species
  • Hells Gate1 species

Did you know…?

  • It shares unusual anatomical features with the elephant, such as permanently growing incisor tusks.

    From Rock Hyrax

  • It eats a wide range of grasses, leaves and fruit.

    From Rock Hyrax

  • It lives among rocky outcrops and in deserts and savannah across much of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula.

    From Rock Hyrax

  • It lives on the same rocks as the rock hyrax without competing: one browses leaves and the other grazes grass, and they even look after each other's young in communal crèches, one of the clearest cases of coexistence between two related species.

    From Bush Hyrax

  • Its upper incisors grow continuously and project like tiny tusks: an inheritance from its kinship with the elephants, whose tusks are also modified incisors.

    From Bush Hyrax

  • Its night call is one of the most startling voices of the African forest: a series of creaks rising in pitch until they end in a shriek audible more than a kilometre away.

    From Southern Tree Hyrax

  • It climbs smooth trunks thanks to moist, muscular foot pads that it can hollow out like suckers.

    From Southern Tree Hyrax

Ecosystems

  • Mountain3
  • Desert2
  • Rainforest1
  • Savanna1
  • Temperate forest1

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