[5][6] It is found in Angola, Zambia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, and South Africa.

It occurs singly, in pairs or in small groups, favouring hollow trees and dense foliage.

[9] Martial and tawny eagles, leopards, lions, jackals, spotted hyenas, and snakes prey upon the southern tree hyrax.

The limited amount of time the hyrax spends on the ground at night may be a predator avoidance strategy.

It consumes many different parts of the plants such as the leaves, petioles, twigs, shoots, fleshy fruit, and hard seeds.

[12] Individual species are too many to list, but include Hagenia abyssinica, Hypericum revolutum, and Podocarpus falcatus.

At an estimated age of under one week they cannot follow their mothers along a branch, but their mobility skills develop rapidly.