SUMMARY
On 29 Nov 2025, I found a group of 12 Variegated Butterfly Bats (Glauconycteris variegata) day-roosting in a Mahogany tree (Trichilia species) on the outskirts of Saint Lucia town (KwaZulu‑Natal Province, South Africa). I checked the site again on 4 Dec and 5 Dec 2025 and they were still using the same tree.
iNaturalist (2 Mar 2026) shows only 12 photographic records across Africa, with none in South Africa. The nearest photographic record in iNat is 1,100 km to the north, in central Mozambique. GBIF (2 Mar 2026) shows 9 records in South Africa, all without images, and they refer to preserved specimens of which the most recent record is from 1988 (37 years ago). Only three of these GBIF records are georeferenced, and all three are within 70 km of this Saint Lucia record. The images here appear to be the first published images of roosting Butterfly Bats in South Africa.
Mammal Species
Asian House Shrew (Suncus murinus)
Summary:
I have posted various close-up videos on YouTube of Asian House Shrew, taken from 15 to 30 cm from the animals, at a feeding station at my house in Phuket (Thailand). They visit each evening, and it is probably unusual for these shrews to appear regularly like this. I first filmed them in Dec 2024, using a Samsung phone. In Jan 2025 (Episode #3) I placed my phone 20 cm from the pellets giving close-up footage and audio; you can hear the squeak it gives each time it takes a pellet. Recent footage (2025 Sep) is with a Nikon Z7 and Z8.