BECOMING A PRIMATE PRO... SORT OF

10 PRIMATE SPECIES YOU'VE PROBABLY NEVER HEARD OF

#8 BROWN GREATER GALAGO

Otolemur crassicaudatus

Also called the THICK-TAILED GREATER GALAGO,
GARNETT’S GREATER GALAGO, LARGE-EARED GREATER GALAGO, GREATER BUSHBABY, GREATER GALAGO, or THICK-TAILED BUSHBABY

Common names are not officially defined. They are based on everyday conversational language and may differ by country, region, profession, community, or other factors. As a result, it is not unusual for a species to have more than one common name.

Scientific names are in Latin and they are written in italics. They are standardized and for everyone, no matter what language you may speak. They are bound by a formal naming system, called binominal nomenclature, that has strict rules. Scientific names prevent misidentification. Those names only change if a species, or its genus, is officially redesignated by experts.

Brown greater galagos range eastern South Africa, and northwards into Swaziland and Zimbabwe, Mozambique and southern Malawi, Zambia, Angola, southeastern Republic of Congo, Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania, and southern Kenya.

  • Called bushbabies for their calls that sound like crying children
  • The largest of the galagos
  • Nocturnal and arboreal
  • Eats tree gum, fruit, nectar, and disease-carrying insects
LEAST CONCERN
 They are widespread and abundant in their range

Brown greater galago populations are stable and widespread. The species appears in several protected areas and they are facing no major threats as a species.

There have been cases of local populations going extinct or close to it, such as a population of a subspecies, the Miombo silver galago, O.c monteiri, in Lake Victoria that is close to going extinct in that region. Many local populations are threatened by habitat destruction, mostly for agriculture.

NO
  1. Brown greater galagos are wild animals. They are nocturnal, require a great deal of room to travel, and suffer when forced to live a caged daytime lifestyle.
  2. Galagos urinate on their hands and feet to leave their scent as they travel. This would be problematic in a home environment.
  3. Their diets are very specific. Their diet and environmental needs cannot be adequately met or replicated in human living conditions. 
  4. To become pets, baby primates are stolen from their mothers. As a result, they do not develop normally emotionally.
  5. When taken from the wild, their mothers are killed to capture the baby.
  6. Primates are never domesticated. They always remain wild. 
  7. Caged primates are very unhappy and frustrated. They are likely to resist confinement. They are quick and cause damaging bites and scratches. Some die as a result of their captivity.
  8. Many locations have strict regulations that prohibit trading in or keeping primates and endangered species are pets.
  9. Brown greater galagos belong with other galagos in the South Africa. They and their habitats must be protected, not exploited.
#PrimatesAreNotPets

Visit the BROWN GREATER GALAGO Primate Species Profile

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