Bushbabies Get New Protection After 12-Year Study

After more than a decade of research, adorable bushbabies in South Africa just got the protection boost they desperately need.

When primatologists Frank Cuozzo and Michelle Sauther first arrived in South Africa in 2012, bushbabies seemed to be everywhere. These cat-sized primates with huge eyes and distinctive wailing calls would sneak into towns, steal pet food, and even beg tourists for snacks on safari.

But something was wrong. The researchers kept finding bushbabies killed on roads or attacked by dogs.

This January, the Endangered Wildlife Trust officially reclassified thick-tailed bushbabies as "near threatened." It's not as severe as endangered, but it signals their numbers are dropping fast enough to worry.

Cuozzo, now at South Africa's Lajuma Research Center, says the evidence was impossible to ignore. Satellite images showed bushbaby habitats shrinking by 3.6% each decade as forests were cleared for farms and housing.

The most alarming example came from the Mokopane Biodiversity Center, where bushbabies once thrived. When a dam was installed upriver 20 years ago, their favorite forests dried up and died. "In 2015, we tried to look for bushbabies there, and there was nothing," Cuozzo said.

Thick-tailed bushbabies spend their lives in trees eating acacia gum and ranging across the lush forests near rivers. Sauther, an anthropology professor at the University of Colorado Boulder, once caught one on a trail camera grooming a bushbuck antelope, plucking insects from its fur.

"They're our cousins, and they even have these connections to other species," Sauther said. "They're a lovely animal to understand."

The Ripple Effect

The bushbaby reclassification could spark protection for entire ecosystems. The forests where bushbabies live contain plant species botanists can't even identify yet, along with countless reptiles and amphibians still unknown to science.

The good news? South Africans can take simple steps today to protect bushbabies. Stop feeding wild primates and bring pet food bowls inside at night, since these treats lure bushbabies into dangerous human areas where dogs attack them.

For roadkill prevention, researchers recommend "canopy bridges," which can be as simple as two ropes stretched over a highway. These allow animals to cross roads safely without risking their lives.

Sauther sees the new conservation status as both a culmination and a new beginning. "We don't want this species to ever become endangered," she said. "Now that we know they're near threatened, we can do something about it."

The researchers hope their work inspires closer looks at other overlooked species around the world before it's too late.