Species profile
About the greater galago
The greater galago, or thick-tailed bushbaby, is the largest of Africa's galagos: about the size of a small cat, grey-brown with a long bushy tail, enormous forward-facing eyes and thin membranous ears that fold independently.
It is entirely nocturnal, and its long wailing cry — startlingly like a child crying — is one of the defining night sounds around Tanzanian camps in woodland country. A torch swept through riverine trees after dark will often pick up the bright orange eyeshine of one feeding on gum or insects.
Life in the wild
Behavior & relationships
Behavior
Nocturnal and arboreal. Moves along branches with deliberate walking rather than the leaping of smaller galagos, and gouges bark to feed on gum.
Social life
Forages alone but sleeps in family groups of two to six; females share nests and raise young together in leafy tree hollows.
What makes it remarkable
Special features
A reflective tapetum behind the retina that produces vivid eyeshine, and ears that fold and swivel independently to pinpoint insects in the dark.
