Wildlife in our neighbourhoods
PACE – Pan African Conservation Education was created by Tusk and Siren Conservation Education in 2004.
This booklet on Wildlife in our neighbourhoods was devised by Penny Fraser, PACE coordinator, and Elaine Hake, at Lilongwe Wildlife Trust in Malawi, when they met at the a Tusk symposium. It was compiled by Penny, with content and images from LWT. Thanks to Torie Curr Smith and Elaine for sharing their conservation expertise, and to Katie Puremont for Design and layout. PACE and Tusk partners gave much appreciated advice and suggestions on topics to include and how to present them.
Published by Tusk Trust, 4 Cheapside House, Gillingham, Dorset SP8 4AA, UK
© 2024 Tusk Trust & Lilongwe Wildlife Trust.
First published 2025.
A catalogue record for this booklet is available from the British Library.
ISBN 978-1-7393445-8-0
Moral rights of the authors have been asserted. All rights reserved. The authors have made every effort to ensure the accuracy and currency of the information in this publication. The authors disclaim any liability for loss, injury or damage incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, from the use and application of the contents of this booklet.
All rights reserved
PACE – Pan African Conservation Education
PACE is an education programme of Tusk. PACE is about helping people solve their everyday environmental problems, especially problems that impact on their wellbeing, and on the wildlife and ecosystems we all depend on. PACE works with conservation and education partners across Africa. We strive to connect people with nature, to understand, value and protect it.
Our educational resources are available free of charge. They are arranged in modules: Living with Wildlife, Water, Soil, Trees, Energy, Living by the Ocean, Urban Living, Health and Careers in Conservation. This resource is part of the Urban Living module.
Why urban wildlife?
There are many wildlife species that make their home in and around our towns and neighbourhoods, even in, on, or under our own dwellings. They depend on us and we depend on them. Species like bats, hedgehogs, owls, monkey and many others are key players in the ecosystems we are part of. They are as important as the animals in wild places – and often less well understood.
This booklet was produced by PACE and Lilongwe Wildlife Trust, Malawi. It features wildlife species people will recognise whether they are in central, east west or southern Africa. It is perfect for all ages, at school and at home – full of beautiful photos and fascinating facts.
Prepare to be informed, excited and to fall in love with some of our common urban wildlife species. Enjoy!
Lilongwe Wildlife Trust
Lilongwe Wildlife Trust is one of Malawi’s leading conservation NGOs.
It runs the country’s only wildlife rescue facility, Lilongwe Wildlife Centre, which is located in a protected nature reserve in the heart of Malawi’s capital city.
Lilongwe Wildlife Centre is Malawi’s only wildlife sanctuary, where animals that have been injured, orphaned or rescued from the illegal wildlife trade are cared for before being released back into the wild.
The Centre is home to around 200 rescued animals on any given day, the majority of which are primates. In Malawi, wild animals are sometimes kept illegally as pets, hunted for their meat, skin or scales or injured through humanwildlife conflict. Lilongwe Wildlife Centre helps animals rescued from these illegal activities. It provides expert veterinary treatment and rehabilitation to give every animal a second chance at life in the wild. Those animals that are unable to be released because of medical or behavioural reasons can find a safe, permanent home in the Centre’s large forested enclosures.
We created this book to help people better understand and appreciate the wildlife around them, to bust some of the myths that cause fear, suspicion, and often cruelty towards urban wildlife.
Wildlife in our neighbourhoods
A lot of wildlife make their homes in and around our towns and villages. Many people don’t know much about some of these free-living neighbours of ours, especially those we don’t often see properly, smaller animals and the nocturnal and crepuscular species.
Some species that live in our neighbourhoods can be quite a nuisance if we give them the opportunity, vervet monkeys certainly can!
But wildlife has as much right to exist and thrive as we humans. It is our responsibility, to keep both human and non-human creatures safe.
There are many simple things we can do that help keep the peace between humans and wildlife. A first step is to understand the animals better. This book helps with that, it has fun facts and some fascinating photos of five common types of urban wildlife. The last section describes some small actions we can take in our daily lives to live peacefully and safely with our free-living neighbours.
Nocturnal means active at night.
Crepuscular means active at dawn and dusk when it’s not fully light nor fully dark. Did you know bats help keep mosquito and other insect pests under control! A bat can eat more than 1000 mosquitoes in an hour!!
Diurnal means active during daylight hours.
Bats and owls are nocturnal.
Bats help pollinate mango, avocado and guava trees, bananas, and many of our timber and medicinal plants.
Hedgehogs also help control pests around our homes and gardens – they eat insects, slugs, snails and many beetles that would otherwise cause us problems.
Almost all owls are nocturnal, meaning they are active at night, resting in the day. They may also be crepuscular – active at dawn and dusk.
Owls
In some places people say that owls protect us and bring good fortune, in other places people are a bit afraid of owls.
In actual fact owls help us. If you have an owl in your garden or around your house, it means your yard is sustaining life!
Owls do a lot of good, we need them.
owls
Barn owls are the owl species most often seen or heard in urban areas. They are quite common.
Family: Tytonidae (only Barn owls)
Genus: Tyto
Species: Tyto alba
Owl taxonomy
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata (Vertebrates)
Class: Aves (Birds)
Order: Strigiformes (Owls)
Family: There are two African owl families Tytonidae (barn owls) and Strigidae (most owls)
African wood owls
Barn
Distribution
Barn owls are one of the most widespread species on the planet, they live on every continent on earth except Antarctica.
Roost is a word for the place where a bird sleeps.
Habitat
Naturally, barn owls live in open woodland. They have adapted to urban environments and often live around human habitation. They roost in old buildings like barns and storage sheds, in hollow trees, caves and even abandoned wells. They don’t roost on the ground.
Appearance
Barn owls have a large, flat heart-shaped white face. They are golden brown and grey above, and paler underneath.
Size
An adult is about 35cm long. They have big wings but are very light for their size, just 250-350g.
Senses
Owls locate prey using sight and sound. Their eyes see twice as well as humans. In low light they notice anything that moves.
Call
Owl species can be identified by their call.
Barn owls call with a shrill, high-pitched ‘Shreeee’ and sometimes hissing sounds. They snap their bill if they are disturbed on their nest.
The male African wood owl – Strix woodfordii, gives a long, rising “hu-wuuuuu” call. The male and females both make a gruff up-and-down series (“hu-ho-hu-ho-ho-ho”), often in a duet.
Barn owls weigh the same as a grapefruit or large mango.
Flight
Barn owls have large wings and little weight. This means they can glide and fly very slowly – good for finding prey.
They fly silently. Their feathers have hooks which kill the sound of air as they move.
Diet
Owls eat rats, mice, insects, and sometimes small birds.
They eat their prey whole. The indigestible bits – hair, fur, feathers, bones and teeth are regurgitated or spat out as pellets.
Because they make pellets the faeces is watery and usually white. You’ll see it under their roost and nesting place.
It is good to have owls around our homes and neighbourhood – they keep rodents and other pests under control.
A group of owls is called a Parliament. Baby owls are called owlets.
Dissect an owl pellet, these are 5cm long, and you can discover which animals it fed on recently, the bones will all be there!
Family
Barn owls may live in small family groups, but most other owl species live alone.
Reproduction
The female lays 4-6, sometimes up to 11 white eggs. She lays them on a nest made from a pile of pellets. While the female sits on the eggs to incubate them the male brings her food. Incubation is 32-34 days before the young hatch. They have fluffy white down before growing adult feathers. They fly at 8-10 weeks old.
Barn owl regurgitating a pellet
Spotted eagle owls also live around people. They like open places near towns and villages, and often sit on dirt roads, or perch on roadside rocks and trees. Their call is wuhuhu-whooh, or wuhuhu-whooh buo-hooh buo-hooh. The male and female sing duets! They live from Kenya, Uganda and Gabon right down to the Cape. It’s cousin the giant eagle owl is one of the biggest owls in the world, 60-65cm.
‘Wuhuhu-whooh’ or ‘Wuhuhuwhooh buo-hooh buo-hooh’.
The male and female sing duets!
Bats
Bats are mammals, they give birth to live young, and breast feed them.
There are many different kinds of bat – 1640 species in the world, and more than 200 in Africa.
Many bat species live in urban areas, including in and around our homes and compounds.
Bats are often confused with other species. People who see large fruit bats often think they are birds! But bats are mammals.
Bats have fur on their bodies. They may be black, brown, red, tan or grey coloured. They have large ears like a rodent, and species vary from just 4g to nearly 2kg in weight.
Bats are the only mammals that can fly. Their wings are very different to bird’s wings. Bat wings are like elongated fingers with membrane between each finger. If you stretch out your fingers, then twist and turn them, you can imagine how agile bats can be as they fly.
They are nocturnal, sleep up-side down and many see in total darkness.
Bat taxonomy
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Chiroptera (bats)
There are 18 bat families.
There are more than 120 bat species in Kenya, 105 in Tanzania, 54 in Rwanda, and researchers keep discovering more.
Appearance
There are bats of different sizes, shapes and colours. Mega or fruit bats, sometimes called Yin – short for Yinpterochiroptera – are the bigger species. They can weigh 1.7kg. They have a long snout and nose like a dog, and large eyes. They have good smell and sight. Also called fruit bats, they eat mostly fruits.
The smallest mammal in the world is a bat – it weighs less than a small coin.
Micro or Yang bats – Yang is short for Yangochiroptera – are smaller. They are insectivorous, mostly eat insects, but have a varied diet. They have poor sight. They navigate using echo-location.
Size
The smallest mammal in the world is a bat. It weighs less than a small coin. The biggest African bat is a Hammer-headed bat – males can measure 90cm from one wing tip to the other!
You can know which family a bat is in, by its nose!!
Senses
Bats have the same senses as humans: smell, sound, sight and touch are all important. Fruit bats have good eye sight and good smell. Micro-bats have poor sight and smell, but detect sound very well. They use ultra sound, sounds that humans can’t hear, and echo-location. Echo location is making sounds and listening out for the echo that comes back when the sound bounces off objects. Their big ears catch the ‘echoes’, letting them know what is where.
Communication
Bats produce sounds to socialize, mate and to alert each other. Fruit bats produce sounds that can be heard by humans. They can be very noisy, when roosting and when feeding.
When resting bats hang up-side-down. They even sleep hanging up-side-down.
Most animals, including humans clench their muscles if they want to hold onto something. Bats are different. When bats are relaxed their claws close, and automatically grip onto a branch or surface without effort. Bats can sleep, even die and would stay hanging. When they want to fly away the bat unclenches its’ claws, so that it will drop, and then start flying.
We need bats so don’t hurt them.
Bats live in colonies, often many thousands roost together in one place. It is a magnificent sight when they leave their colonies at dusk, and again when they return at dawn.
A group of bats is called a ‘colony’ or a ‘cloud’.
PACE Wildlife in our neighbourhoods
Echo location is making sounds and listening out for the echo that comes back when the sound bounces off objects.
Bats wings are not strong enough to fly up (to take off), from the ground. If they land on the ground, they need to scuttle up a tree or rock or building so they can drop off it to get the momentum to fly.
Feeding and diet
Mega or Fruit bats feed mostly on fruit, also the pollen and nectar of plants. Some have long tongues to reach nectar inside flowers. They use smell to find ripe fruits to eat – figs, mangos and berries, so have a long snout and nose like a dog. They use eyesight to navigate through trees to find the fruits and flowers they want to eat.
Insect eating bats are important pest controllers. They can eat their body weight in insects in one night. They eat moths and beetles that damage crops. In North America agriculture pests eaten by bats save $3.7 billion of crop damage a year!!
A bat can eat 1200 mosquitoes in just an hour!
A fruit bat may travel 80km in one night searching for food!
Bats are actually mammals. They breast feed their young, just like us.
Reproduction
Pregnancy in bats is influenced by the weather conditions. The gestation period is 6-9 weeks, depending on the species. A bat is sexually mature after about 18 months, depending on the species.
• Bats are mammals, they breastfeed or suckle, their young, just like humans.
• Pregnant females live in maternity colonies and stay there until they finish breast feeding.
• Female bats give birth to one, rarely two pups per year.
• A young bat is called a pup.
African little free tailed bats, Chaerephon pumilus are a common species. These are under the roof of a building in Kenya.
Vervet Monkey
Scientific name: Chlorocebus pygerythus
Vervet monkey are medium sized primates, that are common in most of east and southern Africa. They are very social and live in groups – sometimes more than fifty. Their natural habitat is grassland or savannah with trees, but they adapt easily to urban areas and human settlements. They are very curious and can be a nuisance if we give them opportunity!
Taxonomy
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Primates
Family: Cercopithecidae
Genus: Chlorocebus
Species: Chlorocebus pygerythrus
Appearance
The back and sides of a vervet monkey are light brown, olive, grey, silver-grey or yellow brown coloured. Their belly and inside legs, arms and around the face are white or off-white. They have black faces, ears, hands, feet and tails. They have long tails, and hands that can grip and manipulate, very much like us.
Size & the difference between male and female
Males are bigger, about 30% bigger, than females. An adult male vervet will weigh 4-8kg, a female 3-5-5.5kg. Their head and body will be 40-60cm long, with a tail more than that length again.
Males have blue scrotum and a red penis. They may have blue coloured skin on their bellies and legs.
Distribution & habitat
Vervet monkeys are found in east and southern Africa. Their natural habitat is wooded grassland or savannah but they are very adaptable, and happily live around human settlements and in urban environments .
Family & social life
A group of vervets is called a troop. A troop usually has about the same number of males and females, and their young. Females stay with their birth troop for life. Males usually leave and join another one, or find females to start their own group.
They do squabble amongst themselves, chase and threaten, but also assist and support each other.
They have a territory and see off strangers from other groups.
If you see one vervet on its own, it will usually be a male, looking for a new mate. If a female is alone, a troop may be nearby or she be an ex-pet. There is a hierarchy in a vervet troop. Some have higher status than others. Dominant vervets make decisions for the whole group – they feed first, control who mates with who, when to move, where to go.
Next time you see a troop of vervets, watch them to see which are the leaders, and which are subordinate. What do you notice about their behaviours?
Routine
Vervets are diurnal, that means they are active during the day, and sleep at night. They sleep in trees, usually at the end of higher branches in big trees, or on structures.
As the sun rises they come down from their trees, and spread out, searching for food. In the middle of the day they rest, and will look for water. Juveniles play in groups – they chase, wrestle, do tug of war, hide and seek and other learning games!
They like to groom each other – to keep clean and remove parasites. Grooming is a way bonding. Junior vervets will groom dominant ones!
Food and feeding
Vervets are omnivores – that means their food is from animals and from plants. Naturally they eat wild plants: leaves, flowers, wild seeds and fruits, insects, eggs and small vertebrates like rodents and birds.
They easily adapt to human food. That is what makes them a nuisance!
They have an opportunistic diet – rather than searching out specific types of food, if they see an edible opportunity, they will take it, so don’t leave food where a vervet could find it, or it will disappear!
Once vervets have found a food source, they will return again and again to that place. They become very bold and will enter houses and vehicles, or even steal food from a person’s hands.
Reproduction
Males are sexually mature at 5-6 years old, females at 4-6 years. Gestation is 5 ½ months. Females deliver a single baby, rarely two, every 1-2 years. At birth they have a pink face and ears, and weigh 300-400g.
The young one is dependant on its mama for 7 weeks, and weaned at about 3 months. Other females and siblings help care for youngsters, the fathers do not.
Senses
Vervets have good hearing, sight, and smell.
Communication
Vervets are very vocal. They make many sounds – they squeal, scream, grunt, bark, chutter, purr, make a ‘wrr’, ‘waa’, and ‘aarr’ sounds!
Vervets use calls to warn others that predators are nearby, one call to warn about eagles, or a predator in the sky, another about a predator on the ground – their own language!
They use smell to communicate, males mostly, rub their chest against trees to leave their scent. They communicate with posture – to show dominance, aggression or subservience.
Predators
In the bush vervets are hunted by most large carnivores – leopards, lion, cheetah, hyena. In urban areas they fall prey to eagles, snakes, domestic dogs, and sometimes humans.
You may see them exposing teeth; open & closing lips; standing upright; bobbing their head; giving distance to others.
What other behaviours have you seen?
Youngsters get a ride by clinging on to mama’s belly
Monitor lizards can be 2.2m long and 15kg!
Monitor lizards
Monitor lizards are reptiles. They can look intimidating but if left alone they respect humans.
Taxonomy
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordates
Class: Reptiles
Order: Squamata
Family: Varanidae (monitor family)
Genus: Varanus
The Nile, small-grain or water monitor, Varanus niloticus is most widespread. They are very big, 1-8kg and 80-150cm long, sometimes 2.2m long and 15kg!
Appearance
They are black and yellow, banded underneath and on the tail, with lines of dots above. The colours are brighter when young, more grey and brown as they get older.
They have a long head, flexible muscular bodies and long flat tail. Their legs are short, but strong. They have sharp claws, for climbing, digging, and organising their food.
There are four species in Africa.
Movement
Monitor lizards run fast. They also climb and swim very well, in ponds, rivers, pans, dams or lakes. They go into swimming pools and often get stuck if the water is not full to the top.
Habits
Monitor lizards are solitary animals so you will probably only see one in an area.
Reproduction
Monitor lizards lay eggs, in the ground, often inside a termite nest. They lay up to 60 eggs. After 4-6 months young monitors hatch out of the eggs.
Senses
Monitor lizards see and hear well. They have a forked tongue. There are smell receptors on each fork. The tongue flicks in and out, with the fork opening and closing. This allows them to detect smells, and where the smells come from.
Feeding
Monitor lizards eat most things smaller than them, from snakes, frogs and rats, to crabs and tortoises. They eat crocodile, lizard and birds eggs and young, beetles, worms and termites.
Monitor lizards prefer to avoid humans.
They also scavenge, clearing up dead and rotting animals to keep the environment clean.
Predators
In the wild monitor lizards have a lot of predators – big carnivores like leopard, hyena and lion, and also pythons and eagles. In urban areas they are safer. Dogs hurt them, but they do not harm dogs.
Protecting themselves
When attacked monitor lizards sometimes play dead until the attacker loses interest, then they move off slowly before bolting for cover! If they feel threatened monitor lizards may hiss loudly, thrash their tails around and can bite. They will eject faeces at an attacker as a last defence!!
THANATOSIS means pretending to be dead!
Distribution of monitor species
In rainforest areas of west and central Africa some Nile monitor lizards are more brightly coloured and called Varanus ornatus.
In savannah north of DRC you can see the grey brown, savannah monitor – Varanus exanthemiticus.
In arid areas of north Africa you’ll see the grey or desert monitor – Varanus griseus. This one also lives in Arabia and parts of Asia marked on the map below.
Like other lizards monitors often bask in the sun, on the ground, a tree or rock to warm their body.
Varanus griseus – grey or desert monitor
In east and southern Africa there are different species.
The Leguaan, also called Southern, rock or white-throated monitor, Varanus albigularis is in the photo above. They have a more swollen snout, are a bit shorter and stockier than the Nile monitor. They are 85-150cm long and can weigh 8kg when adult!
The water monitor lizard, Varanus niltoticus is found in the same region, marked on the map. It is bigger. Adults are 1.8-2.1m long and can weigh 15kg!
Monitor lizards are happy living around human dwellings, towns and villages, but prefer to avoid people. They tend to run into a hole, dark place or water if they see people.
If you corner, try to touch or are aggressive to monitor lizards they can be aggressive. They have strong claws and can bite, hiss and lash out with their VERY strong tails.
Stay away from a monitor lizard and it will avoid you.
This is a Leguaan, Varanus albigularis standing high off the ground in a defensive posture. South Africa.
Rock monitor Nile monitor
Hedgehogs
Hedgehogs are small mammals, 13-30cm long that have short legs, a long nose, short tail and beady eyes. They weigh 300-700g. They have light fur on their faces and underside and short, sharp spines or bristles on their backs. They are shy and come out at night.
Hedgehog taxonomy
Kingdom: Animal
Phylum Chordata / Vertebrata
Class Mammalia
Order Eulipotyphla Insectivora
Family Erinaceidae
Genus Atelerix
There are four African species. There are some sub-species, and one that is found in African and Arabia.
Hedgehogs are great to have in your neighbourhood and compound – they eat insects and keep the area healthy.
Habitat
Atelerix albiventris species doesn’t like places that are too wet, and they don’t like forests. They like dry savannah, scrub or woodland with rocks or old wood, leaves and plant debris where they can find food and shelter. They are happy in gardens, urban spaces and plantations.
Their colour varies, but brown or grey spines with white or cream tips and a body covered in speckled grey fur is typical. Their face, legs, and underparts are white or pale. The spines always have a white base and tip.
Movement
Hedgehogs mostly walk, but they climb and swim if they need to.
Food and feeding
Hedgehogs eat lots of things: worms, beetles, grasshoppers, spiders, termites, grubs, caterpillars, slugs and snails, fruits, roots and plant debris, frogs and small baby mammals, even fungi, small eggs and carrion. They are omnivores and use sight, smell and sound to find their food.
Reproduction
Females, called sows, have 3-11 hoglets, one or more times a year. The mama takes care of them in a warm, safe nest. Hoglets are tiny, just 10g, naked and blind when born. They suckle their mama for 5-7 weeks.
Territory
They make nests in a hole or undergrowth and have a territory 200-300m around it. They will fight other hedgehogs that come onto their space!
Adults are solitary, they live alone, except at mating time.
The African four-toed or white bellied hedge hog, Atelerix albiventris lives in West, Central and East Africa.
Male hedgehogs are called boars, females are sows and babies are hoglets.
Lifespan – wild hedgehogs live 2- 3 years.
A group of hedgehogs is called a ‘prickle’!
Predators
Hedgehogs have many predators – large birds, hyenas, jackals and other big carnivores. Humans, cars, and domestic dogs are some of the biggest dangers for them.
Hedgehogs have sharp spines on the upperside of their bodies. The spines are sharp and prickly.
The spines protect against predators.
Defence
When hedgehogs feel threatened they protect themselves by rolling up in a ball, with spines sticking out. Curled into a spiky ball they are difficult to grasp, bite or hold onto them.
The prettiest hedgehog? They are all beautiful!
In cold seasons hedgehogs usually hibernate, in hot seasons they aestivate.
To Hibernate, or hibernation is a way of surviving cold seasons, like a long very deep sleep, the body slows and cools down, and lives off stored fat. Aestivate – is the same, when it is too hot and dry.
Annointing behaviour
When a hedgehog comes across a new smell or taste, it will take a small amount of the substance and chew it up, creating a lot of frothy saliva. It then uses its tongue to spread the froth on its spines. Looks very strange to us, but normal healthy behaviour for hedgehogs!
The Algerian or North African hedgehog
The Algerian or North African hedgehog Atelerix algirus has a longer nose and longer brownish legs which help it move faster than other species! They can walk 8km a night looking for food!
Southern African hedgehog
In southern Africa, in South Africa, Mozambique, Malawi, Lesotho, Zimbabwe and Botswana you will find Atelerix frontalis. It’s cousin, the subspecies Atelerix frontalis angolae lives in Angola and Namibia. Both kinds are browner in colour, with darker, shorter spines. Southern hedgehogs mature much quicker than those further north.
The Smallest African hedgehog –Four toed Somali hedgehog
The Somali hedgehog Atelerix sclateri, lives only in arid Somalia. We don’t know much about them!
Ethiopian desert hedgehog
The Ethiopian hedgehog Paraechinus aethiopicus is a bit different, it is a desert hedgehog, that thrives in the hot, dry, arid Sahara and Arabia. It is smaller, sand coloured, much faster, and has bigger ears!
The Desert Hedgehog is the fastest moving hedgehog!
Protecting wildlife in our neighbourhoods
In their natural habitats all these species have predators, and of course they suffer injury and illness. But humans and the hazards of our built up areas create more dangers.
We are all responsible for minimising hazards and threats to wildlife, and living peacefully alongside our wildlife neighbours.
We are all responsible for making our homes and neighbourhoods wildlife friendly and safe for all.
Don’t let children play with wild animals.
Experts who touch wildlife are trained. They know the dangers to humans and to animals. They know the procedures to follow.
Zoonoses – are diseases that pass from people to animals, and from animals to people.
Wildlife sanctuaries
Wildlife sanctuaries are like health centres or hospitals for wildlife. They have animal doctors, veterinary nurses and carers who give expert treatment and care to orphaned and injured animals. Those that recover well enough to look after themselves are released back into the wild. Those unable to care for themselves – they may have lost or badly broken a wing, leg, hand or arm, they are given a safe place to live at the sanctuary.
Consider becoming or encouraging a family member to become a ranger, vet, or wildlife professional for a career.
Wildlife emergency? Call a sanctuary or ranger for advice if you are not sure what to do.
Living peacefully with
Owls
No need for rat bait
If you see owls living around your home there is no need to use rat baits and poisons.
The average barn owl family can eat 1,300 rats per year! One thousand three hundred is a lot of rats.
Owls are protected by law – national and international laws.
Protect trees
Owls need trees to survive. If we take care of the trees in our neighbourhoods and plant trees around our homes then owls will have homes.
Owls like to nest in dark, warm places and roof spaces are perfect homes for them. If you don’t want them to nest in the roof then block all the entry holes, and the owls will go somewhere else!
If they have trees they are less likely to seek shelter in the roof of a house.
Owls are not aggressive and do us no harm.
No need for rat bait.
A fledgling is a young bird, that’s just grown its feathers and can’t yet fly properly.
Help fledglings
When young owls are first learning to fly, they are clumsy and unskilled. Sometimes you may see them on the ground under their home tree. Their parents will still be around and feeding them. The best thing you can do is give the owl family space and keep domestic pets away.
If the little owl is in a risky spot you could gently place it in the lower branches of the tree. Watch from afar when dusk falls. If you see the parent birds return then the chick is safe. If no parent birds are in sight and the chick is in danger, then call a ranger or sanctuary.
Living peacefully with Bats
Make sure there are no holes or spaces around the roof, windows, doors or ceilings of your house, then bats like owls can not enter. They will make their home somewhere else.
If you can touch a bat, don’t. To protect it from us, and to stay safe, never touch a bat. A bat that lets you touch it may be sick.
Don’t eat fruit that bats have touched.
Living peacefully with Vervet Monkeys
There are lots of simple things we can do to avoid problems with vervet monkeys.
Never give food to a monkey. Don’t offer them food from your hand or even throw food to them. If you do this just once, that monkey may forever associate people with food. They will go where people are or have been, even in their houses, knowing food could be there, looking for it!!
Close windows and doors when monkeys are around. This is especially important on kitchen windows or anywhere the monkeys might see food. If they can get in, they will!
Don’t leave food lying around. If you are eating outside clean up plates and scraps immediately after eating and take them inside with you.
Feed dogs, cats and outside pets in the evening if possible. Bring their food bowls inside when monkeys are around. Monkeys are usually out in the day time.
Make monkey-proof rubbish bins. Put latches or heavy rocks on top of the bin or tie the lid shut with tight rope. If you don’t they will get in, and scatter everything!!
Make monkey-proof rubbish bins.
Never eat bats.
Living peacefully with Monitor Lizards
Monitor lizards are an important part of a healthy ecosystem – they help clear up dead animals and can reduce pests around houses. They may look intimidating but the truth is if we respect them they pose little threat to humans.
Give them space Monitor lizards do not want to attack humans – with space and a way out, they usually avoid interacting with people.
Be responsible, protect your livestock. Keeping chickens and young livestock secure shows that you are a responsible person.
Monitor lizards may be a risk to your small animals, so always make a safe place for chickens to forage and sleep. A chicken house can be built with local materials (woven plants, wood, mud and some clever thinking), without spending any money.
Ensure pools and ponds have a place where lizards can exit. Monitor lizards like to swim. They are attracted to large bodies of water and can get stuck in swimming pools. To prevent this, ensure water levels are high enough for them to climb out, or place large branches or logs as ladders.
Living peacefully with Hedgehogs
Makee hedgehog safe spaces in your garden – areas they can hide and forage in, like undergrowth, old logs, low bushes.
Try not to disturb their sleeping sites or nests. Hedgehog mamas make warm, safe nests in the grass and undergrowth for their babies and will leave the hoglets there while they forage for food. If you find a nest of babies without their mother, don’t disturb them. Cover the nest and leave it. Touching hoglets stresses them, and may cause mama to reject them.
If you do disturb hoglets in their nest, check after a few hours. If there’s no sign of the mother, or the babies are cold and crying, then contact a ranger or Wildlife Centre for help.
Husbandry is how we care for and look after our animals.
Good husbandry is keeping our animals safe and healthy.
If you approach a monitor lizard aggressively, corner it, or try to touch it, it may defend itself with claws and a whip-like tail!!
If you chase, poke, corner or upset a monitor lizard it may well hurt you – give them space!
Understanding. The unusual anointing habit of hedgehogs is healthy and normal! Some people mistake the foamy saliva they make as a sign of rabies. It is not rabies.
Keep dogs and cats away from hedgehogs at night. Hedgehogs are most active at night. They can be attacked by dogs – so keep dogs inside or on a leash at night to keep hedgehogs safe.
Check bonfires before lighting. There could be hedgehogs inside, be sure they have left to safety!
Don’t disturb hedgehog nests.
References
BirdLife International species factsheets (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/ species/search on 19/11/2024.
Animal diversity web.University of Michigan, museum of zoology. https://animaldiversity.org
ERICA M. SANTANA, HOLLY E. JANTZ, AND TROY L. BEST. 2010. MAMMALIAN SPECIES 42(857). pp99-110. Atelerix albiventris (Erinaceomorpha: Erinaceidae). American Society of Mammalogists.
IUCN Monitor lizard specialist group. https://iucn-mlsg.org https://chadkeates.co.za/2016/12/23/the-monitor-lizards-ofsouthern-africa
https://fascinatingafrica.com/species/monitor https://mol.org/species/map/Varanus-albigularis
PREDICT Living Safely with Bats Book (Africa version_27 July 2018).pdf University of California Davis & USAID
Laverty, T. M., Teel, T. L., Gawusab, A. A., & Berger, J. 2021. Listening to Bats: Namibian Pastoralists’ Perspectives, Stories, and Experiences. Journal of Ethnobiology, 41(1), 7086. https://doi.org/10.2993/0278-0771-41.1.70
GBIF: Global Biodiversity Informatino Facility. https://www. gbif.org/species/2432527
Bats of the world. Bat Conservation Trust. www.bats.org.uk
San Diego Zoo Wildlife alliance library. 2024. Vervet Monkey (Chlorocebus pygerythrus) Fact Sheet: ://ielc.libguides.com/ sdzg/factsheets/vervet
Birds of East Africa. C.A.W. Guggisburg. SAPRA Safari guide #7. Mount Kenya Sundries Ltd. 1990. Birds of Africa. I. Sinclair & P Ryan. Struik publishers, Cape Town. 2003.
Soorae, P., Eid, E.K.A., Behbehani, S.J.Y., Al Johany, A.M.H., Amr, Z.S.S., Egan, D.M., Els, J., Baha El Din, S., Böhme, W., Orlov, N.L., Wilkinson, J., Tuniyev, B., Lymberakis, P., Aghasyan, A., Cogălniceanu, D., Ananjeva, N.B., Disi, A.M., Mateo, J.A., Sattorov, T., Nuridjanov, D. & Chirikova, M. 2021. Varanus griseus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2021: e.T62252A3110663.
IUCN. International Union for Conservation of Nature. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-2.RLTS. T62252A3110663.en
E Bird. https://ebird.org/ and http://merlin.allaboutbirds.org
Cornell Lab Birds of the world. https://birdsoftheworld.org/ bow/species/afwowl1/cur/introduction
Image credits
Front cover. credit: Zoonar GmbH / Alamy Stock Photo P1. Nature Picture Library / Alamy Stock Photo. P3. Ivan Kuzmin / Alamy. P5. Genevieve Vallee / Alamy Stock Photo. P6. imageBROKER.com GmbH & Co. KG / Alamy. P7. Rick & Nora Bowers / Alamy. P9. top, Paolino Massimiliano Manuel / Alamy, and lower, David Havel / Alamy. P10. top Images of Africa Photobank / Alamy. P10. bottom, Images of Africa Photobank / Alamy. P11. Blickwinkel / Alamy. Middle, imageBROKER.com GmbH & Co. KG / Alamy. Middle, Arterra Picture Library. P12. Spotted Albert Thomas, iStock. P13. Ann and Steve Toon / Alamy. P14, Ivan Kuzmin / Alamy. P15: Dorling Kindersley ltd / Alamy. P16. clockwise, Iribagiza Peace. 2. Ivan Kuzmin / Alamy. 3. Ivan Kuzmin / Alamy. 4. Tara Sedgwick / Alamy. P17. Left, HeejinYu/iStock. Right, Ivan Kuzmin / Alamy. P17. Left, Ivan Kuzmin / Alamy. P18. Nick Garbutt / Alamy. P20. Left top, Judd Irish Bradley / Alamy. Left bottom, Andreas Rose. Shutterstock. Right top, GS International / Alamy. Right below, Ivan Kuzmin / Alamy. P21. Lamin, Gambia. Bernard Castelein / Alamy. P22 top. Edwin Godinho/Shutterstock. Lower, Melissa Jooste / Alamy. P23. Top, Anton Herrington / iStock. Lower, Darrell Davie/ Shutterstock. P24. PACO COMO/Shutterstock. P25. top, Jen Watson/Shutterstock. Lower, Peter Titmuss / Education Images / Universal Images Group via Getty Images. P26. Borchee / iStock. P27. Chad Wright Photography / Shutterstock. In grass, Connect images / Alamy. P28. Top, Robert Pickett / Alamy. Lower Papilio / Alamy. P29. eating fruit, Martin Prochazkacz/Shutterstock. Eating acacia, Mara Kenya, Knelson20 / Shutterstock. Baby clinging to mama, AfriPics.com / Alamy. P30. Top, Nirav Shah / Alamy. Lower, Arco / TUNS / Alamy. P31.Top, Laura Romin & Larry Dalton / Alamy. Lower, Melissa Jooste / Alamy. P32. AfriPics.com / Alamy. P33. David Havel / Alamy. P34. Top, ImageBROKER.com GmbH & Co. KG / Alamy. Lower, Nick Greaves; Agfa Awards Winner / Alamy. P35. Karel Bartik / Shutterstock. Monitor digging, Barbara von Hoffmann / Alamy. P36. Goddard_Photography/Shutterstock. On ground, Zimbabwe, Rocco Umbescheidt / Alamy. P37. Alessandro Mancini / Alamy. P38. Biarmicus/Shutterstock. P39. Top, AfriPics.com / Alamy. Lower, BROKER/W. Woyke / Alamy. P40. Marie Lee/Shitterstock. P41,46, 49 lower & 51 Lilongwe Wildlife Trust. P42. Jarkaphoto/Shutterstock. P43. Scott Hurd / Alamy. P44. McDonald Wildlife Photography Inc. P45. Nature Picture Library / Alamy. P46. Elizabeth Leyden / Alamy. P48. Tim E White / Alamy. P49.Top, Mattia Dantonio / Alamy. P50. PB Images / Alamy. P51. Nick Greaves / Alamy. P52. Images of Africa Photobank / Alamy Stock Photo.
Owls help control pests around our homes and gardens. They feed on mice, rats, even snakes –thank you very much!
Somebody somewhere has found a solution! The idea behind PACE is to spread simple solutions to environmental problems between communities across Africa, from fuel-saving stoves to rainwater harvesting, solving human-wildlife conflict, compost making to tree farming. PACE shares information about the environment and the very practical ways in which people are addressing common environmental problems.
PACE is for students, teachers, community use and general reading. Contact pace@tusk.org www.paceproject.net
Acknowledgements
Tusk thanks DHL for their significant and generous support of PACE. Their support has been fundamental to the success of PACE to date.
