The Moholi bushbaby is a nocturnal primate of southern African wooded savannas. It moves quickly through trees and gets much of its food from tree gum.
It has large forward-facing orange eyes, large gray ears, a short snout and a white stripe between the eyes. Fur may be grayish white, brown or reddish brown.
At Nylsvley Nature Reserve in South Africa, researchers fitted free-ranging Moholi bushbabies with temperature-sensitive collars during the cool dry season. They tracked skin temperatures in the field and separately measured metabolism in captured animals to test for torpor, a state that lowers body temperature and energy use. Three of the 20 animals studied, or 15%, entered torpor.
Only one animal became torpid while natural food and water were available. The other two did so after food and water were withheld in a metabolic chamber. Combining field monitoring with controlled measurements showed that Moholi bushbabies can use torpor, but the study recorded it under limited conditions rather than as a routine behavior.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.
During the cool dry season, three of 20 monitored Moholi bushbabies entered torpor. One did so while natural food and water were available; the other two became torpid after deprivation in a metabolic chamber.