PRETORIA - University of Pretoria (UP) doctoral candidate Kyle Smith is on a mission to find out all about one of Southern Africa’s most elusive small carnivores: the African striped weasel – and he needs your help. Smith is calling on members of the public and citizen scientists to help him by providing information about possible sightings of the animal anywhere in Southern Africa.

“In particular, I’d appreciate comments from people who have seen them in arid, desert-like areas, or who might know the location of some of the animals’ burrows or resting places,” he says. “If I can collect scat, I could find out much more about the animal’s diet too.”

African striped weasels (Poecilogale albinucha) are secretive, nocturnal, solitary black-and-white animals found throughout Africa, south of the equator. They have a characteristically slinky, snakelike way of moving and bouncing slightly off their front legs. Like other members of the mustelid family, they have well-developed rear scent glands from which they release foul-smelling liquid when they feel threatened.

“Some say the smell can linger on clothes and car seats for weeks,” Smith says. “Fortunately, I haven’t yet 

experienced that.”

Many things about the species still elude wildlife experts. For instance, very little is known about their movements and diet in the wild. Smith would love to definitively confirm anecdotal comments that these small carnivores hunt mole-rats inside their tunnels.  

“If this turns out to be the case, it will make the weasel the only Southern African carnivore to hunt mole-rats in this way,” he speculates.

The 31-year-old from Benoni grew up in a family of nature lovers – he has already seen about 518 South African bird species. His interest in African striped weasels was piqued when he first learnt about them in his final year of undergraduate studies in the Department of Zoology and Entomology at UP.

“I couldn’t believe that there was indeed a South African mammal that had eluded me,” Smith says. “I was immediately fascinated.”

He’s since learnt that many confuse the animal with striped polecats or honey badgers.

“We are not sure why they’re so seldom seen, and whether it might merely be because they are nocturnal. We don’t know their actual numbers, nor do we know if they’re endangered. It’s quite possible that they could go extinct without 99% of people ever knowing about their existence.”

Smith first saw an African striped weasel in 2019 while passing through the Knersvlakte in the Western Cape, but it was roadkill, having been hit by a car. A year later, while driving on a gravel road at night in the Sandveld near Redelinghuysin the north-western part of the Cape, he saw two live weasels within minutes of each other.

“They were like two small black-and-white ghosts running along a dirt road,” he recalls. “Seeing two within minutes either meant I was extremely lucky or that they’re quite common in the Sandveld area.”

The sightings kindled in Smith a longing to know more about their behaviour and role in the ecosystem. He soon learnt that the species had last been studied in some detail in the 1970s by Dave Rowe-Rowe, when he’d done research on mustelid species in KwaZulu-Natal. There have since been more recent papers on their use in traditional African medicine.

“To protect this species and its natural habitat, it is important to understand its ecological and conservation needs,” Smith says. “We need to raise awareness about them. The lack of knowledge, their mysterious nature and the challenge that comes with researching such a secretive species inspired me to do an ‘old school’ behavioural study for my PhD, reminiscent of zoological research of the previous century. I took the idea to small-carnivore specialist Professor Michael Somers, who supported my somewhat crazy plan.”

Smith’s work is supported by UP’s Mammal Research Institute, and he is being supervised by Prof Somers of the University’s Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, Prof Emmanuel Do Linh San of Sol Plaatje University and Prof Tim Hofmeester of the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences.

Smith has scoured museums around South Africa for possible records to include in a distribution map, and is gathering data on recent sightings across the country. He is heartened by the interest and support that his project has received thus far.

His fieldwork will see him crisscrossing the Western, Northern and Eastern Cape provinces, and parts of the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands. There have been recent sightings in the Boland and Cape Winelands regions in the Western Cape, the area around Gqeberha (formerly known as Port Elizabeth), on the West Coast from Nieuwoudtville in the north down to St Helena Bay, and the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands.

He hopes to collar and track some wild animals – a first for this species – to learn more about their behaviour. He will have to do monitoring work between dusk and dawn, as the animals are nocturnal. By day, Smith plans to 

write up data or scout for burrows and tree hollows that might serve as the animals’ resting places. He will also interview community members to get a sense of their knowledge about and attitudes towards African striped weasels.

How you can help with the African striped weasel project

If you have information about sightings of African striped weasels, contact Kyle Smith via:

• Email at [email protected] or 
• message him on WhatsApp at 073 620 8517 or 
• send sightings through to his social media handles on Instagram: @africanstripedweaselproject or @kylezoologist

Please include the following details:

• The date and time of the sighting (at the very least, the month and year)
• GPS coordinates or as precise a location as possible

Additional information includes:

• Photographic evidence (regardless of quality)
• Any other observations, such as sightings of prey caught, interactions with other species or, in cases of dead animals, speculations on the cause of death
• GPS coordinates of burrows

Sightings include roadkill and other dead animals, as well as animals seen in neighbouring countries.