Also known as galago primate or nagapies (meaning “little night monkeys” in Afrikaans).
Interesting Facts about Bush Babies for Kids
- Bush babies are small primates that live in Africa.
- They have thick fur, long tails, big ears, and huge, round eyes.
- Their large eyes give them good night vision.
- Their big ears give them an acute hearing. They are bat-like ears and allow them to track insects in the dark.
- Their long tails help them balance. The tail, which is longer than the length of the head and body combined, assists the powerful leg muscles in powering the jumps.
- They get their name because of the loud noises they sometimes make that sound like crying babies.
- Bush babies are related to monkeys, apes, and humans.
- They have fingers and toes that can grab things, the way you can.
- Bush babies are nocturnal creatures, meaning they are active during night hours.
- Bush babies‘ loud cries enable them to communicate with one another. Bush babies communicate both by calling to each other, and by marking their paths with urine. At the end of the night, group members use a special rallying call and gather to sleep in a nest made of leaves, a group of branches, or a hole in a tree.
- Just like people have different hair colours, bush babies can have different coloured fur. It may be light brown to a grayish brown with yellowish sides, arms, and legs.
- Most bush babies are very small and weigh less than one pound, the biggest bush babies can weigh as much as three pounds.
- Bush babies have remarkable jumping abilities. Some kinds of bush babies are expert jumpers and can soar 15 feet in a single leap. That’s almost as long as three giraffe legs put together! Others like to run and climb across high treetops using all four legs. They may also hop like a kangaroo or simply run/walk on four legs.
- They are fast, agile creatures.
- Their diet is a mixture of insects, fruit, seeds, flowers, and tree gums.
- Grooming is a very important part of bush babies daily life. They often auto groom before, during, and after rest.
- There are at least 20 different kinds of bush babies, but scientists think there may be around 40 because they haven’t all been discovered yet. Many of these species can live a little over 16 years!