First videos of endemic Zanzibar servaline genet Genetta servalina archeri, African palm civet Nandinia binotata (Mammalia: Carnivora: Viverridae) and other small carnivores on Unguja Island, Tanzania

Abstract

The faunal diversity of the densely populated island of Unguja, Zanzibar archipelago, Tanzania, includes several endemic mammals. Camera-trapping in Jozani-Chwaka Bay National Park and Kiwengwa–Pongwe Forest Reserve in September 2017 captured the first video footage of the Zanzibar Servaline Genet Genetta servalina archeri, an endemic subspecies first formally described in 1998. Other native small carnivores were also recorded on video for the first time during this survey, including the African Palm Civet Nandinia binotata, which was first documented in print as present in Unguja in 2004. Also camera-trapped in 2017 were the Zanzibar Slender Mongoose Herpestes sanguineus rufescens and the Zanzibar Bushy-tailed Mongoose Bdeogale crassicauda tenuis. Follow-up cameratrapping in Jozani-Chwaka Bay National Park in August 2018 captured additional video of the Zanzibar Servaline Genet and the African Palm Civet. No images were obtained of the African Civet Civettictis civetta, or of the two introduced species—the Banded Mongoose Mungos mungo and the Small Indian Civet Viverricula indica—in either year. As the remaining natural habitat in Zanzibar shrinks in size and becomes fragmented, it is increasingly urgent to document the archipelago’s carnivores and other fauna, so that sound conservation measures can be implemented.