Mammals make a part of the wildlife in Zambia, with 240 species loosely grouped into the following:
Antelope
Zambia has many antelope species, about 22 species in total. These range from the 900kg (1,984lb) Common eland, to the 6kg (13lb) Blue duiker. The others are Blue wildebeest (or Cookson’s wildebeest), Bushback, Common duiker, Common eland, Greater kudu, Impala, Klipspringer, Lechwe, Lichtenstein’s hartebeest, Nyala, Oribi, Puku, red forest duiker, Reedbuck, Roan antelope, Sable antelope, Sharpe’s grysbok, Sitatunga, Southern reedbuck, Steenbok, Tsessebe, Waterbuck and Yellow-backed duiker.
Bats (Nocturnal mammals)
Bats are continuous flight mammals that are composed of two main groups; 1. Fruit bats that feed on fruits and nectar; have sharp vision, an excellent sense of smell and do not use echolocation. There are thirteen species and sub-species.
The most famous fruit bats being the African straw-coloured fruit bat. It’s migration to Kasanka National Park, from late October to mid-December, includes over 10 million bats, making it is the largest mammal migration in the world.
2. Insectivorous bats that use echolocation to hunt their prey and navigate in the dark. The 64 different species and sub-species are generally smaller than the fruit bats.
They are grouped as follows:
Pteropodidae: Flying foxes, Old World fruit or fruit bats: Fruit-eating bats containing the largest species.
Vespertilionidae: Flying, insect-eating, most diverse and widely distributed of the genera. The family gets its name from Vespertilio, derived from the Latin word vesper meaning ‘evening’.
Molossidae: Free-tailed bats: This family is generally robust, and consist of many strong-flying forms with relatively long and narrow wings. The free tail gives them a degree of fine-tuning in their flight manoeuvres.
Emballonuridae: Sac-winged or sheath-tailed bat: This family has the smallest bats (microbats).
Nycteridae: Slit-faced or hollow-faced bat: A family of small bats, with large ears, and a complex nose-leaf.
Megadermatidae: Relatively large bat with large eyes, very large ears and a prominent nose-leaf.
Rhinolophidae: Horseshoe bat: Have leaf-like, horseshoe-shaped protuberances called nose leafs on their noses.
Big five
The Lion, Buffalo, Rhino, Leopard and Elephant are known as “Big Five” because of the difficulty in hunting these dangerous animals. Learn more
Carnivores
There are 27 different larger carnivores in the country including the African civet, African clawless otter, African striped weasel, African wildcat, Angolan genet, Cape wild dog, Caracal, Common genet, Leopard, Mongooses, Ratel, Serval, Side-striped jackal, Small-Spotted genet, South African cheetah (fastest carnivores), Speckle-throated otter, Spotted hyena, Striped polecat.
Hoofed non-antelope
This group includes hoofed animals that are not antelope, like giraffe and hippos. Thornicroft’s or Rhodesian giraffe can only be found in the Luangwa Valley of Zambia. Luangwa Valley is also one of the worlds few remaining hippo hotspots. This group includes; the Bushpig, Giraffe, Thornicroft’s (Tallest Hoofed non-antelope), Hippopotamus (Deadliest Hoofed non-antelope), Plains zebra and Warthog.
Insectivores
Birds account for the largest group under insectivores. There are also some other mammals ant eaters, bats, shews and moles.
Primates
There are eleven primate species in Zambia, from the tiny South African Lesser Bushbaby (Moholi galago) to the largest baboon species, the Chacma Baboon. Other primate species in Zambia are the Blue monkey or Diademed monkey, Brown greater (thick-tailed) galago or Bushbaby, Kinda baboon, Malbrouck’s or Blue balls monkey, Sykes’s monkey, Red-tailed guenon, Thomas’s dwarf galago, Vervet monkey and Yellow baboon.