Rondo Dwarf Galago Galagoides rondoensis (Honess in Kingdon, 1997) Tanzania (2006) The world's smallest galago, the Rondo dwarf galago survives in less than 100 km˛ of tiny forest pockets, scattered in two widely separated regions of coastal Tanzania.

Weighing approximately 60 g, this is the smallest of all galago species (Honess 1996b). It is distinct from other dwarf galagos in its diminutive size, a bottle-brush-shaped tail, its reproductive anatomy, and its distinctive “double unit rolling call” (Bearder et al. 1995; Honess 1996a, 1996b). Current knowledge indicates that this species occurs in two distinct areas, one in southwest Tanzania near the coastal towns of Lindi and Mtwara, the other approximately 400 km further north, above the Rufiji River, in pockets of forest around Dar es Salaam. One further population occurs in Sadaani National Park, approximately 100 km north of Dar es Salaam. Rondo dwarf galagos have a mixed diet of insects and fruit, often feed close to the ground, and move by vertical clinging and leaping in the shrubby understorey. They build daytime sleeping nests, which are often in the canopy (Bearder et al. 2003). As with many small primates, G. rondoensis is probably subject to predation from owls and other nocturnal predators. Among these, genets, palm civets and snakes are known to invoke intense episodes of alarm calling (Honess 1996b). The IUCN Red List gives G. rondoensis as Endangered B2ab(i–v) (IUCN 2006). It has an extremely limited and fragmented range in a number of remnant patches of Eastern African Coastal Dry Forest (sensu Burgess and Clarke 2000, p.18) in Tanzania, namely those at Zaraninge forest (06°08'S, 38°38'E) in Sadaani National Park (Perkin 2000), Pande Game Reserve (GR) (06°42'S, 39°05'E), Pugu/Kazimzumbwi (06°54'S, 39°05'E) (Perkin 2003, 2004), Rondo (10°08'S, 39°12'E), Litipo (10°02'S, 39°29'E) and Ziwani (10°20'S, 40°18'E) forest reserves (FR) (Honess 1996b; Honess and Bearder 1996). Specimens of G. rondoensis, originally described as Galagoides demidovii phasma, were collected by Ionides from Rondo Plateau in 1955, and Lumsden from Nambunga, near Kitangari, (approximately 10°40'S, 39°25'E) on the Makonde Plateau in Newala District in 1953. Doubts surround the persistence of this species on the Makonde Plateau, which has been extensively cleared for agriculture. Surveys there in 1992 failed to detect any extant populations (Honess 1996b). No detailed surveys have been conducted to assess population sizes of G. rondoensis. Limited distribution surveys have been conducted, however, in the southern (Honess 1996b) and northern coastal forests (27 surveyed) of Tanzania and coastal Kenya (seven surveyed) (Perkin 2000, 2003, 2004). Absolute population sizes remain undetermined but recent surveys have provided estimates of density (3-6/ha at Pande Game Reserve [Perkin 2003] and 8/ha at Pugu Forest Reserve [Perkin 2004]) and relative abundance from encounter rate (3-10/hr at Pande Game Reserve and Pugu/Kazimzumbwi Forest Reserve [Perkin 2003, 2004] and 3.94/hr at Rondo Forest Reserve [Honess 1996b]). There is a clear and urgent need for further surveys to determine population sizes in these dwindling forest patches. The total area of forest in which G. rondoensis is currently known to occur does not exceed 92.6 km˛ (Pande GR: 2.4 km˛, Rondo FR: 25 km˛, Ziwani FR: 7.7 km˛, Pugu/Kazimzumbwi FR: 33.5 km˛, Litipo FR: 4 km˛ and Zaraninge forest: 20 km˛ [Minimum area data source: Burgess and Clarke 2000; Doggart 2003]). The major threat facing this species is loss of habitat. All sites are subject to some level of agricultural encroachment, charcoal manufacture and/or logging. All sites, except Pande GR and Zaraninge forest, are national or local authority forest reserves and as such nominally, but in practice minimally, protected. Given current trends in charcoal production for nearby Dar es Salaam, the forest reserves of Pugu and Kazimzumbwi will disappear over the next 10-15 years (Ahrends 2005). Pande, as a Game Reserve, is perhaps more secure, and Zareninge forest, being in a National Park, is the most protected part of the range of G. rondoensis. Conservation action is urgently needed, and more research is required to determine the continuing rate of habitat loss at these sites and to survey new areas for remnant populations. Across its known range, the Rondo galago can be found sympatric with a number of other galagos, including two much larger species in the genus Otolemur: Garnett’s galago, O. garnettii, and the thick-tailed galago, O. crassicaudatus. The Rondo galago is sympatric with the Zanzibar galago, Galagoides zanzibaricus, in the northern parts of its range (for example, in Zaraninge forest, Pugu/Kazimzumbwi FR and Pande GR). G. zanzibaricus is classified as Lower Risk (Near Threatened) in the 2006 IUCN Red List (IUCN 2006) due to threats to its habitat. In the southern parts of its range (for example, at Rondo, Litipo and Ziwani FRs), the Rondo galago is sympatric with Grant’s galago, Galagoides granti, which is listed as Data Deficient (IUCN 2006). The Mountain dwarf galago, Galagoides orinus, ranked as Data Deficient (IUCN 2006), is restricted to areas of sub-montane and montane forest in the Eastern Arc Mountains further inland in Tanzania. As such G. orinus also has a very restricted range, although areas of its preferred habitat are believed to be at less risk of degradation because they are relatively inaccessible. Paul E. Honess, Andrew Perkin & Simon K. Bearder

References Ahrends, A. 2005. Pugu Forest: going, going The Arc Journal 17: 23. Bearder, S. K., L. Ambrose, C. Harcourt, P. Honess, A. Perkin, S. Pullen, E. Pimley and N. Svoboda. 2003. Species-typical patterns of infant care, sleeping site use and social cohesion among nocturnal primates in Africa. Folia Primatol. 74: 337–354. Burgess, N. D. and G. P. Clarke. 2000. Coastal Forests of Eastern Africa. IUCN – The World Conservation Union, Gland, Switzerland, and Cambridge, UK. Doggart, N. (ed.). 2003. Pande Game Reserve: A Biodiversity Survey. Tanzania Forest Conservation Group, Technical Paper 7. Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Honess, P. E. 1996a. New primatological discoveries in Tanzania: a discussion about speciation. Social Biology and Human Affairs 61 (1): 7–18. Honess, P. E. 1996b. Speciation among galagos (Primates, Galagidae) in Tanzanian forests. PhD thesis, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, UK. Honess, P. E. and S. K. Bearder. 1996. Descriptions of the dwarf galago species of Tanzania. African Primates 2: 75–79. IUCN. 2006. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN – The World Conservation Union, Species Survival Commission (SSC), Gland, Switzerland, and Cambridge, UK. Website: . Accessed: 5 March 2007. Kingdon, J. 1997. The Kingdon Field Guide to African Mammals. Academic Press, London. Perkin, A. 2000. A Field Study of the Conservation Status and Diversity of Galagos in Zareninge Forest, Coast Region, Tanzania. Report of WWF-Tanzania, Dar-es-Salaam. Perkin, A. 2003. Mammals. In: Pande Game Reserve: A Biodiversity Survey, N. Doggart (ed.) pp.95. Tanzania Forest Conservation Group, Technical Paper 7. Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Perkin, A. 2004. Galagos of the Coastal Forests and Eastern Arc Mtns. of Tanzania—Notes and Records. Tanzania Forest Conservation Group, Technical Paper 8. Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Suggested citation: Honess, P. E., Perkin, A. and Bearder, S. K. 2007. Rondo Dwarf Galago, Galagoides rondoensis. In: Primates in Peril: The World’s 25 Most Endangered Primates 2006–2008, R. A. Mittermeier et al. (compilers), pp.7-8. Unpublished report, IUCN/SSC Primate Specialist Group (PSG), International Primatological Society (IPS), and Conservation International (CI), Arlington, VA.