Pian-Upe Wildlife Reserve - Frontier-publications.co.uk

Pian-Upe Wildlife Reserve: biological and socio-economic survey 37
Mice and rats
Acomys are found in the drier parts of Africa, where they shelter in rocky crevices, termite
mounds, cracked soil, or other rodents’ burrows (Kingdon 1974b).
Aethomys hindei is a grassland species, common in cultivated areas. Its diet consists of grass
seeds and crops such as yam, cassava and sweet potato (Kingdon, 1974b).
Arvicanthis niloticus is a common and dominant grassland species, but is also associated with
cultivated areas (Kingdon, 1974b).
The herbivorous Lemniscomys striatus is one of the larger of the zebra mice. It is a dominant
and successful species occupying a wide variety of grassy habitats and areas of human
habitation, eating seeds and crops (Kingdon, 1974b; Rosevear, 1969). L. barbarus is typical
of dry savannahs and steppes. Where L. barbarus and L. striatus co-exist, the former tends to
live in scrubby areas where there is rapid run-off, while the latter lives in moister drainage
lines where there is more dense vegetation (Kingdon, 1974b).
Mastomys hildebrandtii was captured in grassland. Multimammate rats are ubiquitous in
Africa as they are closely associated with human activity, usually living near houses and
fields (Kingdon, 1974b).
Africa’s smallest rodents, Mus, have been recorded in a range of habitats (Kingdon, 1974b).
This species complex is currently being analysed to distinguish between five possible species
in Uganda (Robert Kityo, pers. comm.).
The insectivorous Uranomys ruddi is recorded from savannah in scattered locations from
West, Central and East Africa (Kingdon, 1974b).
Dormice
The arboreal Graphiurus murinus occurs in all types of savannah and is common around
houses and fields (Delany, 1975). It was recorded near the ranger post at Moruajore.
The small rodents and shrews identified at the time of writing are typical of the locality and
habitat types. Half are classed as ‘Data Deficient’ in the Ugandan context (Kityo, 1996).
Frontier-Uganda Wildlife Protected Areas Project January 1998
Baseline Surveys Programme Report No. 13