Red List of South African Species

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Least Concern (LC)
Assessors: David Rowe-Rowe Christopher Stuart Mathilde Stuart Emmanuel Do Linh San
Contributors: Zimkitha Madikiza Claire Relton Samantha Page-Nicholson
Reviewers: David Rowe-Rowe Christopher Stuart Mathilde Stuart Emmanuel Do Linh San

Rationale

The Zorilla is listed as Least Concern as it is fairly common across its wide distribution range, is present in numerous protected areas, and faces no major threats. Threats, such as road mortalities and domestic dogs, may cause local subpopulation declines, but this is not currently suspected to impact on overall population trends. Education and awareness campaigns should be used to raise the public profile of this species. Citizen science monitoring can contribute to refining our knowledge of its distribution and population trends, especially so as to avoid confusion with the rarer African Striped Weasel.

Regional population effects: Dispersal is expected between regions, as the Zorilla’s range is continuous across Africa south of the Sahara, and this species is not limited by fences.

Distribution

The Zorilla has a wide distribution, ranging south of the Sahara from Mauritania and Senegal in the west, to Sudan, southeastern Egypt, Ethiopia and Djibouti in the east, and south to South Africa (Stuart & Stuart 2013). It occurs from sea level to more than 4,000 m asl on Mt Kenya (Young & Evans 1993).

This species is widely distributed throughout southern Africa and, within the assessment region, is present in all South African provinces. Zorillas show a wide habitat tolerance, often ranging into agricultural areas, such as pastoral areas of the Kenyan Highlands, wheatlands of southwest South Africa, and exotic plantations of KwaZulu-Natal (Stuart & Stuart 2013).

Population trend

Trend

The Zorilla ranges extensively across the assessment region and Shortridge (1934) described this species as one of the most ubiquitous mammals in southern Africa. Although Zorillas are considered rare in some parts of their range (Skinner & Chimimba 2005), they are fairly common elsewhere and are easily overlooked, as they may be difficult to trap, at least locally (E. Do Linh San pers. obs. 2005–2011). Estes (1991) stated that they are most common in open rangelands where wild or domestic grazers keep grass short. In East Africa, Hendrichs (1972) estimated population density at 0.1–0.2 individual / km². They are widespread and regularly observed within the assessment region. Using an average density of 0.1 individual / km², we estimate that there are well over 10,000 mature individuals in the population.

Threats

There are no major threats to the species. Most mortality is attributed to motor vehicles and free-roaming domestic dogs (Kingdon 1977), and in some areas it may be undergoing local declines due to increasing rural human populations and predation by domestic dogs (Stuart & Stuart 2013). Not only are Zorillas killed by free-roaming domestic dogs, but they also compete with them for food in many rural areas (Rowe-Rowe 1997). They are also occasionally targeted and killed for preying on poultry (Rowe-Rowe 1992) or gamebird eggs and chicks (Rowe-Rowe 1997).

Uses and trade

Zorillas have been documented being caught using dogs or traps by subsistence hunters in Tanzania (Carpaneto & Fusari 2000). There are also some reports of Zorillas being kept as pets after anal glands have been surgically removed (Kingdon 1977), as well as their scent being used as perfume (Shortridge 1934). Locally, this species (especially its bones and organs) is used in traditional medicine, although this small-scale use is not expected to have any significant impact on the population.

Conservation

Zorillas are present in numerous protected areas within the assessment region. Currently, no conservation interventions are required. However, educational campaigns aimed at distinguishing between this species and the African Striped Weasel may help citizen scientists to improve monitoring capacity for these two species.

Recommendations for land managers and practitioners:
  • There are no management or conservation plans for this species, and it does not require any at this stage.
Research priorities:
  • Quantification of the impact of roads, and especially mortality from motor vehicles, on this species.
  • The use of citizen science in generating accurate population trends.
  • More information is required on the species basic biology (e.g. reproduction) and ecology (e.g. home range size, habitat use).
Encouraged citizen actions:
  • Report sightings on virtual museum platforms (for example, iSpot and MammalMAP), especially outside protected areas. Please see Taxonomic notes for differentiating between the Zorilla and the African Striped Weasel.
  • Roadkill sightings with clear photographs and accurate GPS coordinates can be submitted to the Endangered Wildlife Trust (email: roads@ewt.org.za; or download the EWT Road Watch app to submit data directly).

References 

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,]
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