When tourists hear the cry of the bush baby for the first time, they are likely to be startled that such a loud call comes from such a small animal. Anyone on a Kruger Park safari, or rather, anyone staying in the area around the park, is likely to hear the calls deep in the night, when the world is silent.
There are two different species of Bush Baby in the Kruger National Park. Both are nocturnal and seldom seen, but in the night their eerie cries are similar to that of a crying child. Locally, they are known by their Afrikaans name, “nagapie” which translates to “small night monkey”.
This is what you need to know about the two types of nagapies you might come across.
Lesser Bush Baby
- The Lesser Bush Baby has finger nails much like a human’s except that it has one two equipped with a claw. This claw is used as a grooming tool.
- Bush babies are particular about their appearance and they groom every evening before setting out to find food.
- On their other tows and fingers they have flat disks of thickened skin. These disks aid the Lesser Bush Baby when it needs to climb the trees in which they make their homes.
- Its index finger is also shorter than the rest, which gives the Bush Baby a better grip.
- They have a dark ring around each eye, and are a light brownish grey with a yellowish colour on the belly.
- They mostly feed on insects and the gum off of trees and are also known to lick dew and rain water from cracks and crevices.
- Just before the rainy season females generally give birth to twins, and then immediately go into oestrus so that they can have another set of twins before the dry season.
- While out foraging for food they leave their babies in nests.
- Males are known to urinate on females to mark them.
- These remarkable little animals are capable of leaping quickly through the trees. Although they mainly stay in trees, they do occasionally go down to the ground and are capable of walking on either their hind legs of all fours.
- Although mainly solitary foragers, they do interact at night and congregate before dawn to sleep.
- The Lesser Bush Baby has 18 different calls. These can be differentiated between social contact, aggression, defence, and annunciatory behaviour.
- The Bush Baby moves its head continuously because it is unable to move its eyes. They have extremely good hearing and can even hear an owl gliding towards them.
- The Bush Baby moves with great speed and can catch a grasshopper or moth in the air with its front feet.
Thick-Tailed Bush Baby
The Thick-Tailed Bush Baby is larger than the Lesser Bush Baby and is lot more social. These Bush Babies are the ones with the real child-like cries. At dusk the groups will disperse and forage for insects and then congregate in groups at well known “gum licks”. Unlike the Lesser Bush Baby, the Thick-Tailed Bush Baby gives birth to three to four young after a gestation period of 132 days. Bush Babies are independent from the parents at about five weeks of age. Males will form groups but will sleep with the females and young for safety reasons.
The female is the dominant one in species and studies have shown that males will follow the females. The females are often quite aggressive towards the males. Socially Bush Babies are playful and will tease with tail pulling or play wrestling and non-aggressive biting.
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