Rationale

This small species is widely, but patchily distributed, across the assessment region, existing at the edge of its Africa range. It exists in many protected areas, including Kruger National Park, and across multiple habitat types, including agricultural landscapes (as long as not overgrazed), and can be locally abundant in suitable habitats. As with all shrew species, it may suffer local declines from ongoing wetland and grassland loss caused by land-use and climate change. However, it is also a savannah species, and thus, in savannah regions, it is less likely to experience major habitat loss in the future. Thus, we list as Least Concern as there is no reason to suspect a decline at this stage. However, this is a poorly known species and we recommend further research and field studies, including the ongoing vetting of museum records, to more accurately delineate its distribution and habitat requirements. Similarly to other shrew species, the following interventions will benefit this species: protected area expansion of moist grassland habitats, as well as incentivising landowners to sustain natural vegetation around wetlands and keep livestock or wildlife at ecological carrying capacity.

Regional population effects: No significant rescue effects are possible as, although habitats are presumably connected across regions in some areas, this species is too small to disperse over long distances.

Distribution

The Tiny Musk Shrew is widely distributed in sub-Saharan Africa, ranging from Senegal, through West Africa and Central Africa to southern Sudan and Ethiopia in the east, and into southern Africa, as far south as north-eastern South Africa. Within the assessment region, scattered records indicate they exist patchily in all provinces besides the Western and Eastern Cape. In Swaziland, it is sparsely recorded from the lowveld and middleveld regions (Monadjem 1998). Although they have not been recorded from Lesotho, (Lynch 1994) they may occur in the low-lying areas, considering they have a wider distribution in the Free State Province than once thought (Avery et al. 2003). In North West Province, it has been recently confirmed from Bospoort dam area, and many outstanding specimens are suspected to be this species, thus it may be a more widespread species than currently recorded in the province (Power 2014). A possible range contraction or local extinction may have occurred in the Tussen-die-Riviere Nature Reserve area in Free State Province where Lynch (1983) recorded this species close to the reserve, as it has not been recorded in more recent years (Watson 2006).

Habitat View more ecological information

Population trend

Trend

Threats

The main threat to shrews is the loss or degradation of moist, productive areas such as wetlands and rank grasslands within suitable habitat. The two main drivers behind this are abstraction of surface water and draining of wetlands through industrial and residential expansion, and overgrazing of moist grasslands, which leads to the loss of ground cover (de-structures habitat) and decreases small mammal diversity and abundance (Bowland and Perrin 1989, 1993; Monadjem 1999). For example, they can exist in agricultural landscapes as long as the areas are not overgrazed. Suppression of natural ecosystem processes, such as fire, can also lead to habitat degradation through bush encroachment or loss of plant diversity through alien invasives, and is suspected to be increasing with human settlement expansion. There are also clear overlaps and synergistic effects between these threats. 

Uses and trade

There is no known subsistence or commercial use of this species.

Conservation

This species is found in many protected areas across its range, including Kruger National Park. Although no interventions are currently necessary, protecting and restoring suitable habitat, such as moist grassland patches, will benefit this species. Biodiversity stewardship schemes should be promoted to conserve such patches. Importantly, at the local scale, landowners and managers should be educated, encouraged and incentivised to conserve the habitats on which shrews and small mammals depend. Retaining ground cover is the most important management tool to increase small mammal diversity and abundance. This can be achieved through lowering grazing pressure (Bowland and Perrin 1989), or by maintaining a buffer strip of natural vegetation around wetlands (Driver et al. 2012). Small mammal diversity and abundance is also higher in more complex or heterogeneous landscapes, where periodic burning is an important tool to achieve this (Bowland and Perrin 1993). Removing alien vegetation from watersheds, watercourses and wetlands is also an important intervention to improve flow and water quality, and thus habitat quality, for shrews. Education and awareness campaigns should be employed to teach landowners and local communities about the importance of conserving wetlands and moist grasslands.

Recommendations for land managers and practitioners:

• Landowners and communities should be incentivised to stock livestock or wildlife at ecological carrying capacity and to maintain a buffer of natural vegetation around wetlands.
• Enforce regulations on developments that potentially impact on the habitat integrity of grasslands and wetlands.

Research priorities: This is a poorly known species and we recommend further research and field studies.

• Additional field surveys are needed to clarify and confirm the distribution of this species.
• Museum specimens must be vetted to refine the distribution map.
• Molecular research is needed to revise the taxonomic status of putative subspecies.

Encouraged citizen actions:

• Citizens are requested to submit any shrews killed by cats or drowned in pools to a museum or a provincial conservation authority for identification, thereby enhancing our knowledge of shrew distribution (carcasses can be placed in a ziplock bag and frozen with the locality recorded).
• Practice indigenous gardening to sustain small mammals.