Status and criteria

DD

Assessment date

2016-01-14

Assessor(s)

Plantae Coordinator

Reviewer(s)

Plantae Coordinator

Major system

Terrestrial

Ecosystem and cultural services

The Pouched Mouse is a generalist that inhabits savannah woodland areas across southern Africa, but this species complex may include a number of groups, specifically dependent on various habitat types. For example, in the Kalahari they occur in the short grass habitats surrounding dry pans (Skinner & Chimimba 2005), in Namibia they are present in the arid western regions and along riverbeds of the Namib Desert, but in Tussen-die-Riviere Nature Reserve, Free State, they were caught in shrub grassland regions (Watson 2006). They are also associated with rocky habitats (such as in Rolfontein Nature Reserve, Northern Cape; Jooste & Palmer 1982), lowveld forest edges, closed coastal forests, and marshy habitats (Skinner & Chimimba 2005). Rautenbach et al. (2014) sampled one at Phinda Private Game Reserve, KwaZulu-Natal in Acacia nilotica/Dichrostachys cinera bushveld. In Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park, KwaZulu-Natal, they only occurred in areas where large herbivores were absent (Hagenah et al. 2009). This species can also make use of modified landscapes, including degraded grasslands, old lands and gardens.

This species complex is crepuscular or nocturnal in habits, and often trapped shortly after dark (MacFadyen 2007). They are slow moving and mild tempered, and may be handled with ease. It is an important prey species, and regularly recorded from owl pellets (MacFadyen 2007). They usually dig burrows, but also readily use the burrows of other animals (Perrin 2013), and on release readily take refuge in the nearest burrow (MacFadyen 2007). They appear to be affected by cool temperatures, and are often inactive in traps after cold evenings (MacFadyen 2007). They are solitary, with only one individual occupying a single burrow, except during the breeding season when females are found together with their young (Ellison 1993). Reproduction is seasonal, with females giving birth during the warm, wet, summer months (Skinner & Chimimba 2005) following a gestation period of 20–21 days (Earl 1978). Large litters are produced, with an average of 7.1 young (range = 1–10; N = 15) (Smithers 1971; Smithers & Wilson 1979) and young are weaned after a period of about 25 days (Westlin-van Aarde 1989).
They hoard food opportunistically (Ellison 1993), and are omnivorous, feeding on a variety of seeds, vegetation and insects (Watson 1987; Kerley 1992; Monadjem 1997). Watson (1987) found that in Kruger National Park their diets varied with season, with insects constituting a larger proportion of their diet during drought periods, compared to periods of high rainfall. However, throughout both seasons, seeds formed the dominant food type, compared to both insects and herbage (Watson 1987).

Ecosystem and cultural services: This species forms an important prey base for nocturnal carnivores and raptors. As a result of its digging ability, it will be involved in soil nutrition and aeration and is a valuable species for seed dispersal.