List of Mammals of South Africa

This is a list of the mammal species recorded in South Africa. There are 299 mammal species in South Africa, of which 2 are critically endangered, 11 are endangered, 15 are vulnerable, and 13 are near-threatened. Two of the species listed for South Africa are considered to be extinct.

The following tags are used to highlight each species' conservation status as assessed by the IUCN:

EX Extinct No reasonable doubt that the last individual has died.
EW Extinct in the wild Known only to survive in captivity or as a naturalized populations well outside its previous range.
CR Critically Endangered The species is in imminent risk of extinction in the wild.
EN Endangered The species is facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild.
VU Vulnerable The species is facing a high risk of extinction in the wild.
NT Not Threatened The species does not meet any of the criteria that would categorise it as risking extinction but it is likely to do so in the future.
LC Least Concern There are no current identifiable risks to the species.
DD Data Deficient There is inadequate information to make an assessment of the risks to this species.

Some species were assessed using an earlier set of criteria. Species assessed using this system have the following instead of Near Threatened and Least Concern categories:

LR/cd Lower Risk/conservation dependent Species which were the focus of conservation programs and may have moved into a higher risk category if that program was discontinued.
LR/nt Lower Risk/not threatened Species which are close to being classified as Vulnerable but are not the subject of conservation programs.
LR/lc Lower Risk/least concern Species for which there are no identifiable risks.

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