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Species Name: Zanzibar Bushbaby (Paragalago zanzibaricus)
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On account of being nocturnal and living high in trees, this small primate is often little known, although it is relatively common in forest areas and may also be found in plantations and gardens. Its large eyes are adapted for seeing in the dark, and its ears are particularly big for very sensitive hearing. It has five toes on each foot and a characteristic fold of skin along the side of the body and on the limbs. This membrane can be used to form a rudimentary parachute and enables the animal to make prodigious leaps from one tree to another. Permanent pair bonds are formed between males and females, and the babies, born in a nest in a hollow tree, are well developed at birth. A bushbaby makes a characteristic call at night, sounding like a baby’s crying, and this can often be heard in some of the lodges on the east coast.
The Zanzibar bushbaby is a subspecies of the more widespread grey-throated bushbaby. Although the generic bushbaby has always been placed in the primate family Lorisidae, recent molecular studies have indicated that it would be more correctly placed in the family Galagonidae alongside the lemurs. This would imply that the bushbaby ancestors colonized Africa from Madagascar some time after the lemurs evolved there and that the present distribution of the Lorisidae family is the result of an overland migration in the reverse direction of that taken by the relatives of the lemurs.
The fur is thick and soft, color varies from light grey to dark brown. The tail is large and furry with a distinctive white or pale tip. This is a nocturnal species. Large eyes and excellent hearing help locate insects, small vertebrates and fruit at night. At rest or when feeding it often can be found sitting on its hind legs. It is very agile and will leap up to 2m between trees. During the day it sleeps in a hole in a tree, often with family members. This species has a number of vocal calls. It will “sing” in the evening sometimes with other group members before separating to forage. This species has a very similar morphology to the other bushbaby species found in Zanzibar, the four-toothed bushbaby. Now considered its closest relative, this species is found on the Tanzanian coast and offshore islands. In comparison, the Zanzibar bushbaby is slightly smaller with a shorter, less tufted tail and darker pelage.
The distribution of the Zanzibar bushbaby is confined to the Udzungwa and Eastern Arc mountains and the Zanzibar archipelago. The Zanzibar archipelago is comprised of Zanzibar and Pemba Islands and 24 small islets. The availability of suitable forest habitat on Zanzibar is now extremely limited and highly fragmented due to centuries of logging and clearance for agriculture. This has resulted in a significant decline in Zanzibar bushbaby populations such that they no longer exist on many of the smaller islets. There are now fears that the remaining forest areas are under threat from clearance for cultivation, charcoal production, and logging.
Bushbabies can be seen in all types of dense tree cover across Zanzibar, but they are most easily observed in clove plantations where the trees provide good cover and the undergrowth is kept clear of competing vegetation by farmers. Bushbabies seem to be generalist feeders, taking insects, fruit, tree gum, and nectar, and are also very flexible in their choice of sleeping site, which can be any dense tangle of creepers and branches. However, despite this great dietary and habitat flexibility, they are very vulnerable to disturbance. If a bushbaby receiving a high-calorie diet of insects and gum in quiet tracts of indigenous forest were to move to a plantation, where it was free of the attentions of the local children and domestic cats, it could still end up losing out on daily energy intake if forced to spend the night in an exposed clump of garden trees. Here, with the absence of a suitable tree hole, it would be more liable to sleep in a hollow. One of its main energy-costing anti-predator strategies is to reduce the need for vigilance. This is done by selecting a safer than normal sleeping site, often one near the crown of a tree with no supporting branches, and the bushbaby cursorily closes its nest hole with leaves and twigs, thereby turning night into day in a visual sense and allowing nearly continuous sleep periods. In addition to this, bushbabies are less vocal in disturbed areas, their territorial call rising and lessening in frequency as they approach the limits of a defended area.
Bushbabies can be a difficult mammal to see on Zanzibar as it is strictly nocturnal. These small primates are rarely seen in the wild as they rest during the day in nests made of leaves and only emerge after dark to forage. However, the Jozani forest reserve is an ideal place to see bushbabies and much more as the forest is the last remaining natural forest on Zanzibar. The bushbabies that live here are more used to people, so there is a chance to see them during the day as they are not so strict with their nocturnal activity times in the forest. The entry fee to the park includes a guided walk. At night, it is possible to hire a special guide who can take you to certain areas where bushbabies are known to nest. It is, however, essential to agree in advance on a price you are willing to pay for the guide, as he may try to charge an unreasonable amount of money once he has taken you around.
Another good place to see and study bushbabies is in Menai Bay, which is on the southwest coast of the island. There are several islets near the coast where bushbabies were translocated in the 1950s and still remain today. The islets are near the small fishing village of Kizimkazi, which is also a good place to see some more of Zanzibar’s culture and a species of primate, but that would be telling!