African Giant Rat

Appearance

The Giant African Rat has a long tail, which is bare with a white tip. The body is covered with buffy-grey, relatively long fur whereas the underparts are slightly paler. Front hands are white. Face is characterised by long dark whiskers. An adult measures 750 mm from the nose to the tip of the tail, and the tail is about 410 mm long. An average male weighs about 1.3 kg and the female 1.2 kg. Small eyes are surrounded by a black eye-patch.

Diet

The African Giant Rat is an omnivorous rodent which feeds on a wide range of food items. Its diet includes insects, termites, fruit and vegetable matter. They have cheek pouches in which they carry food and other items intended for storage.

Breeding

After a gestation period of 27 days, females give birth to litters of two to four altricial pups. The African Giant Rat breeds mostly during summer. Young first leave the nest to forage at the age of six weeks, and finally leave the nest at the age of three months.

Behaviour

Strictly nocturnal and mostly solitary, except when breeding. The home range of adult males and females overlap. The African Giant Rat is adapted to forests and forest scrub with a rainfall in excess of 800 mm per year.

Where they are found

There are only two species in this African rodent genus, of which only Cricetomys gambianus marginally occurs In South Africa. Its occurrence is restricted to the northern parts of the Northern Province.