---
title: "South African Ground Squirrel"
description: "Geosciurus inauris — Mammals. The Cape ground squirrel or South African ground squirrel (Geosciurus inauris) is found in most of the drier parts of southern Africa from South Africa, through to Botswana, and into Namibia, including Etosha National Park."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/animal/south-african-ground-squirrel
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# South African Ground Squirrel

> Geosciurus inauris — Mammals. The Cape ground squirrel or South African ground squirrel (Geosciurus inauris)  is found in most of the drier parts of southern Africa from South Africa, through to Botswana, and into Namibia, including Etosha National Park.

- Scientific name: *Geosciurus inauris*
- Category: `mammals` (Mammals)
- Habitats: `savanna` (Savanna), `desert` (Desert)
- iNaturalist observations: 2479
- Wikidata: [Q125863341](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q125863341)
- iNaturalist taxon: [871614](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/871614)

## Names

- en: South African Ground Squirrel
- de: Kap-Borstenhörnchen
- fr: Écureuil fouisseur du Cap

## Countries with the most observations

ZA (1138), NA (996), BW (204)

## Summary

The Cape ground squirrel or South African ground squirrel (Geosciurus inauris)  is found in most of the drier parts of southern Africa from South Africa, through to Botswana, and into Namibia, including Etosha National Park.
The name Cape ground squirrel is somewhat misleading as it actually has a much wider area of habitation.  This common name may have been arrived at to distinguish it from a tree squirrel (the eastern grey squirrel) found around Cape Town, which was imported from Europe by Cecil John Rhodes.
The species has also been known as the fan-tailed squirrel.

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_ground_squirrel

## Photo

![South African Ground Squirrel](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/south-african-ground-squirrel/medium.jpg)

Photo: o2k · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/258488338

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/south-african-ground-squirrel?lang=en` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).