Has anybody here seen tenrecs in the wild?

DavidBrown

DavidBrown

Well-Known Member
15+ year member
Howdy. I know that some of you out there in Zoochat land have been to Madagascar and I'm wondering if anyone has seen a wild tenrec species while there. I'm curious specifically what seeing a tenrec in the wild is like, if that is even possible. Any response that anyone has will be appreciated.
 
DavidBrown said:
Howdy. I know that some of you out there in Zoochat land have been to Madagascar and I'm wondering if anyone has seen a wild tenrec species while there. I'm curious specifically what seeing a tenrec in the wild is like, if that is even possible. Any response that anyone has will be appreciated.
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In the wild no, it would be fairly difficult or one needs to be really lucky to stumble upon one (if you are not particularly spotting out for them).

In semi-captivity yes ... (but in my book of wild tenrec that do not count).
 
Hello David

I saw a lowland streaked tenrec (Hemicentes semispinosus) near the Coco Beach Hotel in Maroansetra. It had just been raining and it was getting dark. I was with an anthropologist and his guide. The guide shouted that it was a rat. I said it was a streaked tenrec, but I don't think the anthropologist was happy that I contradicted his guide.
 
Thanks for the replies, Kifaru and Dassie. That is cool that you got to see the lowland streaked tenrec, Dassie rat, even if it was just crossing the road.
 
Unless you were really lucky I doubt you would see a tenrec in the wild if you just went. Of course if you heavily researched them and went out specifically searching for them you'd have a better chance. I've seen two tenrec species in captivity and both were quite difficult to find as were always in their burrows (the only reason I saw Bronx's, which it took me years to do, is because they have viewing into the burrow- and it's a nocturnal enclosure).

~Thylo:cool:
 
ThylacineAlive said:
Unless you were really lucky I doubt you would see a tenrec in the wild if you just went. Of course if you heavily researched them and went out specifically searching for them you'd have a better chance. I've seen two tenrec species in captivity and both were quite difficult to find as were always in their burrows (the only reason I saw Bronx's, which it took me years to do, is because they have viewing into the burrow- and it's a nocturnal enclosure).

~Thylo:cool:
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What two species did you see? Greater and lesser hedgehog?
 
Kifaru Bwana said:
In semi-captivity yes ... (but in my book of wild tenrec that do not count).
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What do you mean by semi-captivity? A zoo-based set up like Masaola (as an example of such a set-up, although it doesn't have tenrecs) where they are essentially left to fend for themsleves and do what they want OR a wild situation (in Madagascar) where they are regularly fed and so not truly wild? Or something else entirely? Such as a wild-caught one in a cage in a food market? :D
 
@zooboy28

It was a zoo-ish type set up with several large enclosures in one or other eco resort. The particular enclosure was for radiated tortoise (and I mean large ...) and also had tenrecs in them. That is semi-captivity to me (as opposed to regular zoo).
 
Kifaru Bwana said:
@zooboy28

It was a zoo-ish type set up with several large enclosures in one or other eco resort. The particular enclosure was for radiated tortoise (and I mean large ...) and also had tenrecs in them. That is semi-captivity to me (as opposed to regular zoo).
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Cheers. That makes sense - definitely can't be considered wild animals.
 
On pro birding and animal watching tours tenrecs are seen quite often, at least on half the tours based on the trip report lists. On such a tour we had common and lowland streaked. Common in Kirindy where we were on a late evening walk searching for owls. Froze when hit by the spot light, stayed there for perhaps 10 seconds, ran off rather noisily when the light was removed. Lowland streaked in Masoala National Park at the base of a tree stump and didn't seem to care about our presence; we left it after a few minutes as we still hadn't seen our main goal, helmet vanga. Lowland streaked is supposedly also common in gardens in nearby Maroantsetra where Dassie rat saw his, but we didn't spent much time in the town. Two additional tenrecs seen regularly based on trip reports (we didn't) are the lesser and greater hedgehog. These four species are all reasonably common and conspicious, though it appears (based on trip reports) that you're unlikely to see more than 1-2 species in any single trip. Hints on where to see them can be found in the "Viewing" section of each species in Garbutt's guide to Malagasy mammals. I know of a fairly recent tour that had mole-like rice (aka Hova) tenrec, but seeing any species beyond the first four appears to require a lot of luck and/or searching.

Since you're in the company of local guides in many of the reserves anyway (whether on a fully planned and self-planned trip), it's simply a matter of informing them that you have a serious interest in animals, beyond the usual lemurs everybody want to see. Unsurprisingly, early morning/late evening/night walks also seems to be an advantage.

For 'hardcore' mammal watching, it's always worth checking mammalwatching.com
 
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condor said:
Since you're in the company of local guides in many of the reserves anyway (whether on a fully planned and self-planned trip), it's simply a matter of informing them that you have a serious interest in animals, beyond the usual lemurs everybody want to see. Unsurprisingly, early morning/late evening/night walks also seems to be an advantage.

For 'hardcore' mammal watching, it's always worth checking mammalwatching.com
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Thanks for another of your always comprehensive, helpful, and interesting answers, condor.
 
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