Cape ground squirrel: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the Cape ground squirrel lives – recorded in 3 countries, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Geosciurus inauris
Group	Squirrels, chipmunks & marmots
Found in	3 countries
Continents	Africa
Class	Mammal
Order	Rodentia
Family	Sciuridae

Where does the Cape ground squirrel live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the Cape ground squirrel in 3 countries and territories across Africa.

Countries with at least a handful of records (a minimum share of the species’ records, to leave out vagrants and escapes). Records with coordinates only; captive and fossil records excluded.

What kind of animal is the Cape ground squirrel?

The Cape ground squirrel (Geosciurus inauris) is a mammal in the order Rodentia and the family Sciuridae, genus Geosciurus. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About the Cape ground squirrel

The Cape ground squirrel or South African ground squirrel (Geosciurus inauris) is found in most of the drier parts of southern Africa from South Africa, through to Botswana, and into Namibia, including Etosha National Park.

The name Cape ground squirrel is somewhat misleading as it actually has a much wider area of habitation. This common name may have been arrived at to distinguish it from a tree squirrel (the eastern grey squirrel) found around Cape Town, which was imported from Europe by Cecil John Rhodes.

The species has also been known as the fan-tailed squirrel.

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Cape ground squirrel (revision 1369636853), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q125863341 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).