Shortsnouted elephant shrew

Introduction: The short-snouted elephant shrew (Elephantulus brachyrynchus) is slightly shorter than other elephant shrews because of a shorter snout, hence the name. It is a fast runner, most active at dawn when they scurry from cover to cover. Foot-drumming is also a characteristic of this shrew. Another feature is scent glands behind the ears, which come into contact with the ground when they roll down the sand, dispersing a secretion on the ground and over themselves at the same time.

Distribution: Far north-eastern Namibia only, including the Caprivi Strip and Kavango River regions.

Diet: Ants and termites, grasshoppers and crickets.

Colouring: Varied brown body fur, with white, buffy or off-white rings around the eyes, upper lip and brownish-yellow patches behind the ears.

Breeding: Females have the capacity to produce five or six litters per year with one or two young. A survival feature of the newly-born short-snouted elephant shrew is that they are fully-furred and their eyes are open at birth, and can run almost immediately after birth.

Size: Total length of 210mm, tail roughly the same length

Weight: 44g