June. 2000 
19 
ai a snake, defending iood. or during 
physical aggression and may cause the 
other animal to turn away It is made 
with a closed mouth. 
yjzz 
Repeated every I -3 seconds for several 
minutes, it is made when watching a 
cat approach, as a startle response or 
when alarmed Other animals seek 
shelter. 
Croak 
Sounds like a trog. or the winding-up 
part of the great call and is made during 
moments of tension, protest, when a 
cat is near or when being caught It 
may be produced when eating Adult 
females may nuke it in response to 
young's twitter 
Nyam-nyam 
Tins is a protest by the female w hen 
the male tries to mount 
Single scream 
This is a single, harsh sound made by 
the adult female as a male tries to 
mount, or when chasing an adult male 
and trying to bite him The male's 
response is to tlee 
As can be seen from above, the 
majority of sounds heard in this study 
occurred in the context of tension or 
stress. This is consistent with the 
observed predominance of non- 
friendly interactions among these 
captive animals. Although there is no 
consensus on the social organisation 
of tree hvraxes. it is conjectured that 
they live, in contrast to the other genera 
in their order, a predominantly solitary 
existence, congregating in small family 
groups only at certain times of year 
(Fey, I960; Rahm. 1957). 
Illustration by L A Depew from 
Jour an! nj East African Natural 
Hi st on 83:1. 
References 
Bothma, J du P (1971) Order 
Hyracoidea. In Meester ct ai. 
(eds). The Mammals of Africa. An 
Identification Manual. Smithsonian 
Institute Press. Wash. D.D 
Fey, V. (I960). A note on the 
behaviour of tree hyrax. Journal 
of the East Africa Natural History 
Society 23(103): 244-246 
Jones. C. (1978). Dendrohyrax 
dorsalis Mammalian Species 
113:1-4. 
Kingdon. J (1974J. East African 
Mammals. An Atlas of Evolution 
in Africa Vol. 1 Academic Press. 
London. 
Kundacli. J.N. (1976). Distribution of 
tree hyrax ( Dendrohyrax validus, 
True) on Ml. Kilimanjaro, 
Tanzania. East African Wildlife 
Journal 14: 253-264. 
Milner. J.M & S. Harris (1999). 
Activity patterns and feeding 
behaviour of the tree hyrax. 
Dendrohyrax arboreus. in the Parc 
National des Volcans. Rwanda 
African Journal of Ecology 17 
267-280. 
Rahm. IJ. (1957) Der Baum oder 
Waldschliefer. Dendrohyrax 
arboreus {Fraser). D Zoolog 
