LESSER BUSHBABY The longjump specialists

“In trees, jumping (or leaping) is their primary mode of locomotion, they are extraordinarily athletic.”

Bushbabies, now more correctly known as galagos, are part of a group of primate species known as Prosimians. This group includes the lemurs of Madagascar, the galagos and pottos from Africa, and the lorises from India and southeast Asia.

There are 18 galago species, all of which are found only in Africa – two greater (thick-tailed) galagos, two needle-clawed galagos, and currently, there are 14 recognised species of lesser galago.

In this article we focus on South Africa’s lesser galago (Galago moholi), now known as the South African galago. They are also known locally as night apes or nagapies in Afrikaans. But for convenience, I will use the name bushbaby in this article.

Bushbabies are small, nocturnal primates native to southern Africa, their range extending). Grant’s galago, a very similar lesser species to our bushbaby, occurs further to the east in Mozambique and northwards into Malawi.