The rhino- and buffalo-wrangling genet – whose bizarre behaviour of jumping on passing big mammals has generated a buzz – and notched up nearly 900 followers on a popular social media interface.
Conservation and monitoring group Wildlife ACT, the researchers who captured the unusual images of the same genet repeatedly jumping up on different animals via one of their bush cameras in the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park, set up a Twitter account – with the handle @GenetJackson – in an effort to stir up more interest in conservation issues, particularly around rhinos.
The nocturnal mammal was named after Janet Jackson, King of Pop Michael Jackson’s sister and a pop diva in her own right.
Responding to Daily News queries, the group said that it would like “Genet Jackson” to become a voice for endangered species in Africa, talking particularly of the plight of its favourite free ride, the white rhino.
“The cameras which we have out there are designed to capture white and black rhino for monitoring purposes, with animal selfies being one of the best ways of monitoring these sometimes cryptic species.”
They added: “By jumping on the rhino’s back he or she and the rhino have managed to develop a unique way of highlighting and bringing the world’s attention to this species and the problems we are facing.”
The organisation – which also assists in training field guides and securing funding – helps Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife by monitoring endangered and priority species in Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park.
Genets, while they might look like a cross between a mongoose and a small cat, are not related to either. They are, however, common all over southern Africa.
They reach about 21cm at the shoulder.
Director of the organisation Dr Simon Morgan said at the weekend that they had confirmed that cameras had captured the same genet on the large animals.
“Our wildlife monitors have been able to verify that it is the same genet.”
Morgan said that the behaviour exhibited by the animal was unusual.
“As far as we are aware this is the first recorded behaviour like this.
“We would love to know if anyone else has recorded something similar and the circumstances surrounding it.”
Morgan said that looking at the photos you could see that in some images the genet was literally going along for a ride, while in a few others the genet was near the head and could be picking ticks off the animals’ ears.
“It could be similar behaviour to cattle egrets (birds) which go for a ride and wait for the large animal to flush out insects, so in this case the genet could be using this vantage point to spot small prey items being flushed out by the buffalo or the rhino.”
The camera traps are placed strategically and usually in hard-to-navigate areas.
The cameras, they said, were triggered by movement and used a flash at night that did not irritate the animals.
“These camera traps are perfect for monitoring generally shy or nocturnal animals or priority species such as rhino, cheetah and leopard. By studying the photographs we are able to identify animals and plot their territories.”
This, they added, was critical to their ongoing research and would make it easier to monitor animals in the future.
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Joyride favoured over tree
Craig Widows, 26, who is currently pursuing his PhD at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, looking at genets in urban areas in the greater Durban area, said that he had not seen such behaviour in the two years he had been studying the animal.
“It’s difficult to say what it was trying to do. If it needed a higher vantage point, why didn’t it just climb a tree? I suspect it just enjoyed the ride,” he said.
He said that genets had very general diets and would even resort to raiding rubbish bins.
“We’ve seen them take to the eaves of roofs to raise their young. They favour higher ‘perches’.”
He said that he was excited about the genet’s use to garner more attention for conservation.
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For more information on Wildlife ACT’s campaigns, to volunteer or get more details of Genet Jackson’s exploits, visit www.wildlifeact.com or www.facebook.com/wildlifeact. Alternatively follow the critter on https://twitter.com/genetjackson.