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Elephant Shrew

The Elephant Shrew is an facinating member of the small five, located in various and widespread habitats around South Africa. Not common to any specific region, this hardy animal is actually incorrectly named - previously thought to be of the shrew family, the Elephant Shrew is not actually a shrew, but designated the same family as golden moles, aardvarks, hyraxes, and, of course, elephants, under the superorder Afrotheria.

These adorable quadropeds sport more than fifteen subspecies, and can thus vary in length from ten to fifteen centimetres, or weight from 50 g to well over 500 g in some cases. Distinct and sharp faced, elephant shrews have large canine teeth, and longer legs than most animals their size. These are used to move along in a hopping fashion. In terms of animals to spot while on safari, the Elephant Shrew is one of the most elusive and hard to track down, as it prefers to remain camouflaged, absolutely still, and is adept at lightning-fast sprints away from danger.

Habitats can include arid Southwest African desert areas and the Namib desert, females giving birth to litters of between one and three babies in the middle of these conditions, several times a year. Gestation lasts between forty and sixty days, and mating periods last for several days before this. Not known for being social animals, Elephant Shrews live largely in monogamous pairs, sharing home territory and marking this with their scent glands.

An elephant shrew’s diet consists largely of insects and worms or invertebrates. With it’s tapered and elongated snout, the elephant shrew eats in a style similar to that of the anteater, using its snout to track down food, and an elongated tongue to lap them up. Because of the awkwardness of holding certain insects in order to eat them, elephant shrews will sometimes also eat new leaves or fruits from surrounding vegetation.