Platbos indigenous forest | Fauna in Platbos forest

The longer we work and live in the forest, the more we discover about it. Here then, are the beginings of our ongoing learning.

Platbos is home to numerous mammal, bird, reptile and invertebrate animal species who rely on the forest for food and shelter. Most of the trees bear edible fruits and seeds, and in addtion, the forest canopy provides much needed protection and fodder for visiting buck species since the surrounding natural environment is increasingly giving way to agriculture, alien invasive vegetation, and grazing fields for cattle. Copyright: SA Tourism According to C.J. Skead, Platbos is probably the south-western limit of the stately but shy bushbuck, and it is an important habitat for the endangered, red-data listed Leopard Toad.

Leopards are shy members of the cat family and are rarely seen in the wild. Their presence in the kloofs and mountainous areas nearby to Platbos is confirmed by their spoor and deep scaring of tree trunks matching their powerful claws.

Birds in the forest and surrounds

African dusky flycatcher	Cape crow	Guinea Fowl
African fish eagle	Cape batis	Hadeda ibis
African Harrier-Hawk	Cape bulbul	Heron
African Hoopoe	Cape canary	Knysna Wood Pecker
African paradise flycatcher	Cape eagle owl	Laughing dove
Amethyst African Black Sunbird	Cape francolin	Olive thrush
Bar throated apalis	Cape robin	Olive bush shrike
Barn Owl	Cape sparrow	Pin-tailed whydah
Blue crane	Cape turtle dove	Rameron pigeon
Blue-mantled crested flycatcher	Cape wagtail	Sombre Greenbul
Black Saw Wing Swallow	Cape white-eye	Southern boubou
Brown-hooded kingfisher	Eagle Owl	Southern double-
Burchell's coucal	Fiscal shrike	collared sunbird
Cardinal Wood Pecker	Forest Buzzard	Speckled Mousebird

Mammals

Aardvark	Cape molerat	Mountain Reedbuck
African wild cat	Caracal	Porcupine
Baboon	Common duiker	Scrub hare
Bat spp	Genet (large- and small-spotted)	Small grey mongoose
Bushbuck	Grey Rhebok	Steenbok
Bontebok	Honey badger	Striped polecat
Cape grysbok	Leopard

Reptiles & Amphibians

Snakes (most are either harmless* to humans or like the boomslang and cobra, very shy and retiring)

Aurora house snake*	Common slug eater*	Puff adder
Boomslang (Tree Snake)	Mole snake*
Cape cobra	Olive house snake*

Leopard toad	Raucous toad	Tree frogs

Parrot-beaked tortoise