African savanna hare
Mozambique hare ( Lepus Microtis )
The savannas or Mozambique hare ( Lepus Microtis; Syn inter alia L. victoriae ) is a mammal in the genus of the Real hares among lagomorphs. It is spread over large parts of Africa south of the Sahara.
Features
The Mozambique - bunny is medium in size with a weight of 1.5 to 3 kg, an average of about 2 kg. The coloring is compared with the Kaphasen full color. The back is gray-brown, the chest, sides and legs are reddish - brown and the belly is white. In the highlands, the animals are darker and redder than in the lowland steppes. The ears have a black tip and the tail is black on the upper side and lower side white. Compared with that of the Kaphasen the coat is rough.
Dissemination
The Mozambique - hare is distributed over large parts of Africa south of the Sahara. The distribution area extends from the Atlantic coast of the territory of Western Sahara over parts of Mauritania, Senegal, Gambia and Guinea, as well as the entire Sahel to Ethiopia and Kenya in the east and south to Namibia, Botswana and South Africa. In western Algeria also an isolated occurrence has been described in the area of Beni Abbes.
The species lives in the greater part of its range sympatric with the Kaphasen (L. capensis ), but allopatric to parapatric with the Busch hare ( L. saxatilis ) and the Abyssinian hare ( L. habessinicus ).
Way of life
The Mozambique - hare is nocturnal and lives in general as loners or in small groups of two or three animals. Like all rabbits it feeds mainly on grasses and herbs, with the composition changes depending on the region and existing vegetation. In the areas in which overlap the habitats of Mozambique Hare and Kaphasen, giving way to the Mozambique - rabbit made in bushier and higher altitude habitats during the Cape hare in open grassland lives.
Data and observations on reproduction are scarce. The females get all year pups and the litter size is on average 1.6 pups per litter and an average of 8 pups per female and year.
System
The Mozambique - hare is associated as an independent species the genuine rabbit ( genus Lepus ). It was originally described in the past under different names (synonyms), including L. saxatilis, L. crawshayi, L. and L. victoriae whytei, but the name Lepus Microtis of Theodore of Heuglin from 1865 is the oldest and thus taxonomically valid. In addition, the kind in the past as a subspecies of rabbit bush (L. saxatilis ) was listed.
Within the species, in addition to the nominate L. m. micotis three other subspecies are distinguished: L. m. angolensis, L. m. senegalensis and L. m. whytei.
Threats and conservation
The species is classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources ( IUCN) due to the large distribution area and the high inventory levels as not at risk ( " least concern "). Larger threats to Artbestand are not known, but are also no data on the holdings.