serikali ya mapinduzi zanzibar care tanzania and department

in the forest and inhabitated areas. A specimen was obtained from children in Konde
village. Vocalisations suggested that galagos are fairly common in the area.
Galagos are found only in Africa south of the Sahara but are absent at the Cape.
Morphologically similar species can be identified by vocalisation. Galagos occupy a
range of habitats from forest, thickets, wooded savannah, deciduous woodland to treecrop
plantations depending on the species. Habitat loss and possibly hunting are
probably the greatest potential threats to galagos.
Javan or Rasse Civet (Viverricula indica rasse) (Ngawa)
This is an exotic species introduced to Pemba and Zanzibar at an early date but it is
not exactly known when. It belongs to India-Indochina-Malaya region and was
brought to Pemba by the Javanese sailors. The secretions from the civet, which are
used in perfume industry, is believed to to be the main reason Javan sailors introduced
the species in every place they went. The civet secretions are also known to be a
remedy to swellings. The species has become relatively successful and ha established
itself on the island. It is widely distributed occupying a variety of habitats, and their
sightings are fairly common. In Pemba there is no indigenous African civet hence the
introduced civet flourished unchallenged. In Zanzibar since its introduction the civet
has coexisted with the African civet Viverra civetta. No negative impacts have been
established in Zanzibar between the Javan civet and its counterpart the African civet
with which they share habitats.
Small mammals
There is a significant gap in the knowledge of taxonomy and distribution of smaller
mammals, especially forest species and those, which are nocturnal or difficult to
detect such as bats, rodents and shrews. On the other hand shrews, bats, galagos,
rodents, antelopes and elephant shrews are mammal groups showing the highest levels
of endemism in coastal forests. Most small mammals observed were caught in traps
and some were seen during night drives. Few animals were sighted opportunistically.
Rodents particulalrly Black rat Rattus rattus was very common in all forest habitats. It
is the most abundant small mammal in Ngezi. Only few shrews were observed
through capture in pitfall traps. Shrews are probably not common in the area. Marsh
mongooses are present and at least one sighting and a number of signs were observed.
There was one sighting of slender mongoose. Lack of capture of most small
mamamals and few sightings during survey suggest that most of them are locally rare.
Shrews
Shrews of East Africa are not well known, their distribution is restricted and do not
commonly occur in all habitats. Generic and species diversity in coastal forests is
lower than in the Eastern Arc Mountain forests (Burgess and Clarke, 2000). Although
Zanzibar shrew species richness is comparatively high in relation to most coastal
forests on the mainland the situation is different in Pemba. Only 3 specimens were
obtained during the survey with over 462-trap effort. On the other hand Zanzibar has
2 genera and 4 species of shrews including the African Giant Shrew (Crocidura
olivieri), Zanzibar Pygmy Shrew (Crocidura fuscomurina), larger Savanna Shrew
(Crocidura viaria) and the Indian Musk Shrew (Suncus murinus). The Zanzibar
Pygmy Shrew is the most common and widespread species in Africa (Burgess and
Clarke, 2000).
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