Chrysochloris asiatica
Silhouette: T. Michael Keesey · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~50%
The Cape golden mole (Chrysochloris asiatica) is a small, insectivorous mammal of the family Chrysochloridae, the golden moles. The species is a solitary subterranean insectivore, confined to the coastal regions of the southwestern and southern Cape in South Africa. When foraging for small, soil invertebrates and small lizards, these golden moles excavate superficial burrows using their conical nose shield and highly modified forefeet. Females are smaller than males. Golden moles have very dense, soft, and silky coats. The coats are colored blackish to slaty-grey and brown to pale fawn. They have also been observed to venture onto sandy beaches, presumably to feed on amphipods and isopods occurring there.
Manyeleti Private Game Reserve - description of golden moles Archived 2025-02-23 at the Wayback Machine Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Table Mountain National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 2 | Garden Route National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cape Town | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
No species of the same family or order lives in Cape Town, so these are its closest relatives here: other mammals.
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Cape Golden Mole sighting in Cape Town on a given day, based on 74 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 9th most-seen of the 29 mammals we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
February to December
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Cape Golden Mole in Cape Town on a given day, against under 5% in January, the lowest month.
Between noon and 3 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Cape Golden Mole sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Cape Town, in our data
Cape Town is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Cape Golden Mole sightings: about 10% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Cape Golden Mole is recorded against all the mammals logged in Cape Town (74 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
