Souther tree hyrax (Dendrohyrax arboreus) can be encountered from South Africa to Kenya, Uganda and Congo.
Southern tree hyraxes live in forests, they feed on leaves.
Southern tree hyrax from Nanuyki, close to Mt Kenya.
Southern tree hyraxes are related to elephants. Very little is known about their lives from the canopies, as they are nocturnal and difficult to see.
Most commonly tree hyraxes are heard. Southern tree hyrax sounds like it’s halloween.
Call and spectrogram of the southern tree hyrax from Nanuyki, Kenya
Call and spectrogram of the southern tree hyrax from Nanuyki, Kenya
Southern tree hyrax is quite adaptable to different forests, it also lives in secondary forests. Poaching is largest threat, it is also hunted by large predator birds.
As a nocturnal animal, it mostly sleeps during the days. Tree hyraxes may also come to bask in the sun during the day.
If not disturbed by humans it will also seek safety under the roofs of warehouses.
They have also many social calls. Group is formed by more tightly bonded, and most likely related, females, and males that live on the outskirts of female group. There is hierarchy in the group between males and between females.
Most people who see hyraxes in Kenya or in Africa in general think that they are some sort of rodents, as they look like overgrown guinea pigs.
It is amazing that closest relatives to hyraxes are elephants!
Furry coat protects from cold temperature. Hyraxes have low body temperature. They rely on sun bathing to lift their body temperature. Grasses that they eat, are low nutrient food and hyraxes have several adaptations to allow them to cope with such low nutrient diet.
These animals are actually related to elephants and manatees. They belong to the and cohort Paenungulata – where also elephants, manatees and dugongs belong (Mammals of Africa 2013).
Strange appearance has lead to misleading name hyrax, which means “shrew mouse”. In South Africa they are called “dassie”, that is derived from Dutch word for badger, equally misleading.
In Hebrew hyraxes were known as shaphan, “meaning the hidden one”. As sailors came 3000 years ago to coast of Spain, they named it I-shaphan-im -Island of the Hyrax. As they saw many animals that they believed to be hyraxes. Animals were actually rabbits.
So country Spain derives its name from misunderstanding, it is named after animals that have never been there. Hyraxes are endemic to Africa.
More than 25 million years ago, there where many more species and hyraxes where largest group of medium sized herbivores. Now there are only three geniuses left and these are living in harsh conditions where competition from other herbivores is minimal.
Three genera of hyraxes:
Procavia – rock hyraxes
Heterohyrax – bush hyraxes
Dendrohyrax – tree hyraxes
In Mt Kenya, and also in some other places, rock hyraxes are getting used to people and hang around in hope of food
Incredible features of hyraxes
Hyraxes have tree toes, these cute soft toes are sausage like. Teeth of hyraxes are weird for small animals, resembling rhinos or horses. Upper incisors are tusk-like, larger in males than in females (Hoeck). These tusks remind of their large distant relatives, elephants.
Hyraxes have low body temperature, and they use sunshine to rise their body temperature. Hyraxes conserve energy by having low body temperature, getting warm in the sun and resting a lot. They are dependent on cavities of rock or trees for shelter to stay warm. Hyraxes have internal testes, as lower body temperature allows testes to remain inside the body.
The eye of rock hyrax has shield called “umbraculum” that allows them to stare at the sun. Perhaps this adaptation allows them to see attacks of eagles, as animals are exposed when they are basking in the sun.
In Mt Kenya Senecio plant (in front) and Giant lobelia (behind) are largest plants. Hyraxes are living on small grasses. Their slow metabolic rate and capability to gather heat from the sun, allows them to live in such hard conditions.
Rock hyrax eats grasses. Hyraxes do not ruminate, but their ability to digest fibers is just as efficient. Morphology of digestive system is complex and unique to hyraxes. Efficient kidneys allow them to survive with minimal water intake.
Animal with cuts in the cheek. Grasses on the left are their diet in Mt Kenya.
Hyraxes have long vibrissae (tactile hairs) distributed around their bodies. Probably helping them to orient in rock holes or in the darkness of the forest canopy, with tree hyraxes.
Rock hyraxes are diurnal, group living animals. Main communication method for rock hyraxes is vocal communication. Complex vocal communication include songs that male sing to attract mates (Koren & Geffren 2009).
Sources and additional reading:
Demartsev, Vlad, Arik Kershenbaum, Amiyaal Ilany, Adi Barocas, Einat Bar Ziv, Lee Koren, and Eli Geffen. 2014. “Male Hyraxes Increase Song Complexity and Duration in the Presence of Alert Individuals.” Behavioral Ecology 25 (6): 1451–58. https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/aru155.
Ilany, Amiyaal, Adi Barocas, Michael Kam, Tchia Ilany, and Eli Geffen. 2013. “The Energy Cost of Singing in Wild Rock Hyrax Males: Evidence for an Index Signal.” Animal Behaviour 85 (5): 995–1001. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2013.02.023.
Kershenbaum, Arik, Amiyaal Ilany, Leon Blaustein, and Eli Geffen. 2012. “Syntactic Structure and Geographical Dialects in the Songs of Male Rock Hyraxes.” Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 279 (1740): 2974–81. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2012.0322.
Kingdon, Jonathan, ed. 2013. Mammals of Africa. Vol. 1: Introductory Chapters and Afrotheria. London: Bloomsbury.
Koren, Lee, and Eli Geffen. 2009. “Complex Call in Male Rock Hyrax (Procavia Capensis): A Multi-Information Distributing Channel.” Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 63 (4): 581–90. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-008-0693-2.
Weissman, Yishai A, Vlad Demartsev, Amiyaal Ilany, Adi Barocas, Einat Bar-Ziv, Inbar Shnitzer, Eli Geffen, and Lee Koren. 2019. “Acoustic Stability in Hyrax Snorts: Vocal Tightrope-Walkers or Wrathful Verbal Assailants?” Behavioral Ecology 30 (1): 223–30. https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/ary141.
Mt Kenya is amazingly beautiful mountain with incredible plant fauna. There are several routes to choose from, so climber can ascend and descend from different directions.
I had always been fascinated by walking up the mountain, as you can basically walk from Equator to the North Pole, and see all different vegetation zones from forest to the glacier in few days.
Highest peak, that can be reached without climbing gear is Point Lenana 4985 meters. This takes five days when leaving from Nairobi. It can be made faster, but this beautiful mountain deserves the time and you are less likely to have altitude issues.
I walked up the mountain using Sirimon and descended using Chogoria route. This is described as most beautiful route, and I can really verify that.
I climbed Mt Kenya in March 2018. It was during short rainy season. I was lucky, there was no rain when I was on the mountain.
I made my booking through Gracepatt Ecotours Kenya. I had my own two guides with me Martin and Charles.
I met few climbers in the huts, so I had company during evenings. But during the days I had the mountain for myself. It was special five day meditative experience.
Meals that are prepared in the mountain put whole new standard on camp cooking! For me, and for also other travelers chefs we’re preparing full meals with soup as appetizer, main course, and deserts. It was simply delicious. Food in Mt Kenya is excellent. I had no idea that such gorgeous meals can even be cooked in so simple and basic settings.
First day hike is by using tarmac road, that leads from Mt Kenya National Park Gate to Old Moses Camp. It is just about three hour hike.
Walk begins with beautiful montane forest, continues in bamboo forest and changes again to giant heather.
Photos from Tarmac road on the way to Old Moses Camp
Photographs from Old Moses Camp, it almost looks like Scotland.
Old Moses Camp is basic camp with bunkbeds. There I met Mohammed from Jordania, who had just missed the peak as his guide had malaria fever episode, and he had to carry him down. Mohammed also gave me some tips how to adjust to make climb as easy as possible. Here they are:
As you reach your destination for the day, have a short brake, but then move on little more. Walk maybe 200-500 even further, stay there for half an hour and come back. It tells your body in advance what it has to prepare for.
Also, there is no electricity in the mountain. Using airplane mode in the phone saves battery. Mohammed actually gave more battery for me, as my phone was already going down on first day.
Old Moses camp is already above the clouds
Ascend to Shiptons camp is amazingly beautiful as vegetation in Mt Kenya is incredibly beautiful.
Endemic Giant Lobelia “ostrich plume plant” is only found from Mt Kenya. “Hairs” are needed for insulation to protect the flowers and the plant itself. Another strange looking plant is Senecio in the background.
Shipton Camp is basic camp to stay for additional day for adaptation to higher altitude.
In Shiptons Camp, and also elsewhere in the mountain there are groups of rock hyraxes (Procavia capensis). Hyraxes are incredible animals. Their closest relatives are elephants, they have three toes, internal testes, and teeth like rhinos. Hyrax communication is extremely variable and many climbers have been startled by their “ear splitting” screams, coming from just a meter away behind the rocks.
Having lunch with hyraxes. This time I had no idea, that later in life I would do PhD of tree hyraxes. There is whole post about hyraxes in Mt Kenya.
Rock hyrax, Senecio and Giant Lobelia.
I was there in March, during rainy season, there was no rain, however it was really cold. Temperature was close to zero during the day and bellow zero during the night. I mostly stayed in my winter sleeping bag. I was sitting in the sleeping bag during dinner. My guides were so cold they could not sleep.
Shiptons Camp living room and view to Shiptons Camp from Point Lenana path.
Ascent to Point Lenana takes few hours from Shiptons camp. Closer to the peak path becomes icy. At that point I wished I had taken my grips for shoes with me. One slip, and there would have been zero chance of survival.
As I was up in March, peak of Point Lenana was icy. Walking to the top was dangerous, as there was only ice, and nothing to hold on. One slip, and the fall would have been hundreds of meters. Simple spikes, the ones that can just be put on top of the shoe would have been great solution.
There were people who were not able to reach the top because of altitude symptoms. Some of them were very fit young men. I guess you can do best you can to help your body to adapt and then just hope it is enough. For me this was just a long walk, my body was just fine.
I was not lucky to see the sun set as it was cloudy. But when I began descending to the other side of the mountain clouds cleared and I had most beautiful walk of my entire life.
Going down from Point Lenana up to Mt Kenya Bandas is a long walk, about 28 kilometers. But as you are going down and view is all the time spectacular, it is a gorgeous day.
Animals from the way down
As day passes, scenery changes back to giant heather.
Then heather is behind and bamboo forest is around, and now you are back walking on the road that eventually leads to Mt Kenya Bandas.
My guide Charles and chef Martin Njure Kinyua. They took excellent care for me. They both enjoyed greatly their work going up and down Mt Kenya. It certainly would keep anyone lean and strong.
Mt Kenya bandas have very nice cabins and even hot shower! It is water warmed in barrel with wood.
Surroundings of Mt Kenya Bandas have a lot of wildlife, so keep your eyes open for sweet kudus.
Getting adapted to higher climate before heading up to the peak.
Animals of Taita, Kenya 