Yellow-spotted Hyrax

Description:

Rock rabbit or yellow-spotted rock hyrax looks like an oversized, robust guinea pig. It has a pointed nose, small rounded ears and no tail... well I did not see any tail... It has a remarkable white spot above the eye, and whitish or yellowish dorsal spot (a bare scent gland on the back, covered by longer hair). Brown-greyish coat.

Habitat:

Seen in Nairobi National Park, at the outskirts of the city. Inside he park, we saw this one (and his colony) in an elevated rocky area (just like the books say) in the middle of savanna...

Notes:

In Nairobi NP, these hyraxes seem to be very used to human presence, and humans feeding them, so they come around rather willingly, and don't leave easily. I think this is unfortunate, and a pity. This behavior was very different from other places in Kenya where I saw them, and one could not approach them at all, they would all quickly disappear if you tried to come closer... Another interesting thin is that it is said that hyraxes are elephant's genetically closest living relatives...