Africa Wild

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Kruger Sightings
‏Verified account @LatestKruger
2h2 hours ago

06:30
Our visitor at our campsite this morning, cane rat
Lower Sabie campsite
Vis 5/5
Tinged by Alida

Greater Cane Rat



Appearance:
This rodent is closer related to the porcupine than to veld rats. The spiny fur on the back and rounded nose distinguish this animal from true rats. A mature animal reaches a length of about 720 mm.

Diet
Foraging individuals systematically cut grass with the upper incisors, which results in a tooth-chattering sound. The upper teeth grow continuously. Although it prefers green fodder, it can survive on the dry highveld grasses since it has digestive microbes in the hindgut. The meat of cane rat is regarded as a delicacy, superior to that of rabbit. For this reason some people hunt it for food.

Breeding
Females gives birth to two litters per year after a long gestation period of 152 days. Litter sizes are mostly four pups which are well developed at birth.

Social Behaviour:
Social structure normally consists of a male with two or three females.

Habitat:
Always occurs along river banks and near marshes where coarse and cane-like grasses occur. Often becomes a pest in crop areas such as sugar cane plantations in KwaZulu-Natal.

Where they are found:
Found in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa and further north to the central highveld of Gauteng and the Northern Province, as well Mpumalanga. A sister species, namely the lesser cane rat, is found only in parts of Zimbabwe and Mozambique bordering on Zimbabwe.

http://www.krugerpark.co.za/africa_grea ... e_rat.html

Mattie010 saw one at Skukuza in 2014:





viewtopic.php?f=46&t=5760&start=20

Greater Cane Rat (Thryonomys swinderianus)




Habitats and Ecology
This species is typically found within reed beds or in areas
of dense, tall grass with thick reed or cane-like stems,
typical of riverine and other similar habitats.

At more than 4.5 kg, Greater Cane Rats are the second
largest rodents in Africa. They feed on roots, reeds and
the stems of grasses along rivers and in other moist areas.
Grasses eaten include Couch Grass (Cynodon dactylon),
Swamp Grass (Hemarthria altissima), Elephant Grass
(Pennisetum purpureum) and Guinea Grass (Panicum
maximum). While grasses are their principal food, they raid
crops (such as maize, millet, sorghum, wheat, and sugar
cane) and cause damage by cutting the stems at their
base with their broad sharp incisors (Skinner & Chimimba
2005).
Greater Cane Rats are predominantly nocturnal or
crepuscular. They are polygamous, with a single male
observed with a number of females and their offspring.
Although they are generally reported to be solitary, family
groups of up to ten may live in restricted areas (Skinner &
Chimimba 2005). Two litters of as many as 12 young are
born annually (Skinner & Chimimba 2005), with two to four
pups per litter the norm in all southern African countries
for which data are available (van der Merwe 1999).

https://www.ewt.org.za/wp-content/uploa ... nus_LC.pdf

Klippies!

They are much bigger than I thought

I saw one running next to the spruit at school here once...it was huge and I thought it was a dog at first!