Trachylepis wahlbergii
Silhouette: David Orr · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
Trachylepis wahlbergii, also known commonly as Wahlberg's striped skink, is a species of lizard in the family Scincidae. The species is native to Southern Africa. Trachylepis wahlbergii has been considered a subspecies of Trachylepis striata. Whether T. wahlbergii is truly distinct from T. striata is not fully settled.
T. wahlbergii occurs in southern Angola, northern Botswana, northern Namibia, western Mozambique, Zambia, and northern, western and southern Zimbabwe. The specific name, wahlbergi, is in honour of Swedish Naturalist Johan August Wahlberg.
T. wahlbergii is viviparous. Peters W (1870). "Förteckning på de af J. Wahlberg i Damaralandet insamlade Reptilierna: Enumeratio Amphibiorum quae beat. J. Wahlberg anno 1854 ad 1855 in Africa occidentali (Damara) collegit ". Öfversigt af Kongl. Vetenskaps-Akademien Förhandlingar 26 (7): 657–662. (Euprepes wahlbergii, new species, p. 661). (in Swedish and Latin). Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Waterberg Plateau Park | 🇳🇦 Namibia | |
| 2 | Kafue National Park | 🇿🇲 Zambia | |
| 3 | Moremi Game Reserve | 🇧🇼 Botswana | |
| 4 | Lower Zambezi National Park | 🇿🇲 Zambia | |
| 5 | South Luangwa National Park | 🇿🇲 Zambia | |
| 6 | Mana Pools National Park | 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe | |
| 7 | Hwange National Park | 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe | |
| 8 | Chobe National Park | 🇧🇼 Botswana | |
| 9 | Etosha National Park | 🇳🇦 Namibia | |
| 10 | Namib-Naukluft National Park | 🇳🇦 Namibia |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Wahlberg’s Striped Skink sighting in Namib-Naukluft National Park on a given day, based on 6 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 36th most-seen of the 39 reptiles we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January and April
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Wahlberg’s Striped Skink in Namib-Naukluft National Park on a given day, against under 5% in February–March and May–November, the lowest months.
Between noon and 3 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Wahlberg’s Striped Skink sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
10th of 10
Of the 10 parks where we can rate Wahlberg’s Striped Skink sightings, Namib-Naukluft National Park ranks 10th at about 10%. The best odds are in Waterberg Plateau Park (Namibia, about 50%), Kafue National Park (Zambia, about 50%) and Moremi Game Reserve (Botswana, about 40%). All parks ranked.
Same genus: Trachylepis
The closest relatives of the Wahlberg’s Striped Skink that you can see in Namib-Naukluft National Park (genus Trachylepis, Afro-Malagasy Mabuyas) are Kalahari Tree Skink (about 30%), Variegated Skink (about 20%) and Western three-striped skink (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Wahlberg’s Striped Skink is recorded against all the reptiles logged in Namib-Naukluft National Park (6 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
