Hyænas, spotted and striped (H. crocuta and H. striata) are common; much rarer and more local is the Hyæna-like, but smaller, Aard Wolf (Proteles cristatus).
Jackals, Foxes and Fennecs are abundant; the Wild Dog (Lycaon pictus) is scarcer.
Smaller carnivora are Civets, Genets, the Mongoose, the Ratel, and the pretty little black-and-white Zorillas, which in coloration remind one of the American Skunks.
Insectivora.The Insectivora are represented by Hedgehogs and Shrews (Erinaceus and Crocidura).
Bats (Chiroptera) are plentiful.
Rodentia.Rodents (Rodentia) are represented by the common Porcupine, Hares, Ground-Squirrels (Xerus), Rats, and the Jerboas and Gerbilles—curious little nocturnal creatures living in holes in the desert sands. They have long hind legs and tails, progress by leaps like miniature kangaroos, are of a protective sandy coloration, and subsist entirely without water.
Ungulata.Much the most interesting to the general traveller and sportsman are the Ungulata or hoofed animals, and in this “big game” the Sudan is particularly rich.
The Elephant is found on the Setit (from which during the Kharif or rainy season it ranges as far north as the Gash), the Upper Atbara, the Rahad, the Dinder, and the Blue Nile; it ranges across the Gezira in smaller numbers and becomes more plentiful again along the Upper Sobat, Pibor, the Bahr-el-Jebel, in the Bahr-el-Ghazal Province, along and west of the Bahr-el-Arab as far north as Kalaka. The ivory from these southern swampy districts is much larger than that from the Blue Nile and Abyssinian frontier—tusks running up to 130 lbs. or so in weight—but it is not of quite as good quality. No organized effort to capture and train adult African elephants has been made in modern times, and attempts to rear the young on cow’s or goat’s milk or farinaceous substitutes have generally failed.
The Black Rhinoceros (R. bicornis) was found as far north as the Gash in 1880; a very few still remain on the Setit, the Rahad, Dinder and Blue Nile; on the Bahr-el-Jebel, in the Bahr-el-Ghazal Province, and on the Bahr-el-Arab it is less scarce, while there is some reason to believe that in this last-named tract of country the White Rhinoceros (R. Simus) is not yet extinct. The destruction of Rhinoceroses in the Sudan is absolutely prohibited.
A curious little animal somewhat doubtfully placed by naturalists near the Rhinoceroses is the Hyrax, a small animal, in shape somewhat resembling a guinea-pig, which inhabits rocky hills in many parts of the Sudan.