African chipmunk

African chipmunk

We are delighted that the personnel consultancy Dr Stehle-Hartwig has taken on the sponsorship of the African chipmunk(Funisciurus isabella).

There are a total of nine species of African chipmunks (genus: Funisciurus), which are not to be confused with the chipmunks of the genus Tamias, which are mainly native to North America. The African chipmunks all inhabit the rainforests of the African continent.

The "Gray" or "Lady Burton's chipmunk", as Funisciurus isabella is also known, is native to Cameroon as far as Gabon, the Central African Republic and western Congo, where it can be found in both lowland and montane rainforests. It likes to stay at a height of up to 10 metres in places where dense thickets have developed in the lower layers of the forest, for example at the edge of a clearing or a body of water.

Its diet consists mainly of various fruits, from which it often only removes and eats the seeds. In contrast to most of its related species, insects only make up a very small proportion of the diet of the grey chipmunk.