Bats in Senegal

Hi all,

I photographed a couple of interesting bats in Senegal last month. The first, leaf-nosed type one I’m quite confident is Hipposideros cyclops, known as Woolly Leaf-nosed Bat. it was a pretty large guy (about 35 cm wingspan) that came into our camp’s kitchen taking cover from a thunderstorm, at Wassadou, 50 km east of Tambacounda (www.niokolo.com).

The second is one of the many African epauletted fruit bats species; from the location I’m guessing Epomophorus gambianus, but I’d appreciate any input as for its ID. It was hanging from the ceiling at a hotel in Tabakouta, not far from Gambia’s northern border.

Other interesting mammals included Patas and Vervet monkeys, Western Red Colobus, Guinea Baboons, Large Grey (or Egyptian) Mongoose, Golden Jackal, and unidentified genets and probable galagos at wassadou; unfortunately these weren’t seen under good enough light (we had storms almost every night), but the place seemed to have great potential for later in the dry season.

The reserve of Guembeul next to St Louis has free range Scimitar Oryx and Dama Gazelle, and Dorcas Gazelle in enclosures, waiting for reintroduction. Many of these come from the Sahara Wildlife Reserve in Almeria, Spain, where they have been bred for many years.

Best,

Ignacio Yúfera

www.iyufera.com