Bush babies have a call which sounds like a human child crying, hence their name.

Subspecies
None.

Life span
16 years.

Statistics
Head and body length: 14-17cm, Tail length: 11-28cm, Weight: Female: 1.4-2.3kg, Male: 1.6-2.5kg.

Physical description
Southern lesser bush babies have greyish or light brown fur with large ears, and large orange eyes. They have a dark eye mask and tail, and yellowish limbs.

Distribution
Southern lesser bush babies inhabit a band across Southern Africa from Angola to West Tanzania, and covering Zimbabwe and Transvaal.

Habitat
They inhabit semiarid Acacia woodland, savannah and forest edge.

Diet
Southern lesser bush babies feed on tree exudates, butterflies, moths and beetles.

Behaviour
They are nocturnal and arboreal. They live in groups of 1-5, although they forage alone, and male ranges overlap those of the females. During the day, they sleep in tree hollows.

Reproduction
Females give birth after a gestation period of 121-124 days. The female has a single infant after the first pregnancy, and then has twins after following pregnancies. The infants are carried by the scruff of the neck in their mother's mouth for the first 50 days of their lives.

Conservation status
Southern lesser bush babies are considered to be at Lower Risk of extinction.