Myosorex varius
Silhouette: Becky Barnes · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
The forest shrew (Myosorex varius) is a species of shrew in the mouse shrew family, Soricidae. It is found in Lesotho, South Africa, and Eswatini. Its natural habitats include temperate forests, dry savanna, Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation, and temperate grassland. The term "forest shrews" in the plural is sometimes confusingly used to collectively refer to a different genus, Sylvisorex.
The forest shrew grows to a length around 12.5 cm (5 in) with a tail of 4.3 cm (1.7 in) and an average mass of about 12 g (0.4 oz). In KwaZulu-Natal and the Drakensberg region, the males are larger than the females, but in the Cape Colony, the sexes are of similar sizes. This shrew is covered in short, dense fur, dark grey or brown above and paler underneath.
The forest shrew is native to South Africa, Lesotho, and Eswatini. In upland areas, it is often the commonest small mammal, but it is less common in coastal areas. It is found in a wide range of primary and secondary habitats, including forests, grassland, scrub, semidesert, karoo, and fynbos.
The forest shrew excavates a shallow burrow or takes over the burrow of another small... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Table Mountain National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cape Town | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
No species of the same family or order lives in Table Mountain National Park, so these are its closest relatives here: other mammals.
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Forest Shrew sighting in Table Mountain National Park on a given day, based on 21 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 30th most-seen of the 39 mammals we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
June and December–January
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Forest Shrew in Table Mountain National Park on a given day, against under 5% in February–May and July–November, the lowest months.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Forest Shrew 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 Table Mountain National Park, in our data
Table Mountain National Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Forest Shrew sightings: under 5% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Forest Shrew is recorded against all the mammals logged in Table Mountain National Park (21 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.
