The breeding pattern of the Soft-furred rat, Praomys morio in an evergreen forest in Southern Uganda

Observations were made on the breeding of Praomys morio in a lake shore forest in Uganda, during a mark-release-recapture programme whose other aim was to study the role of rodents in the epidemiology of arboviruses. Because of the few numbers of animals captured other means of increasing reproduction data were employed. These included calculating the months of birth of very young animals from their weights.
It was found that pregnancies and births were more numerous in January, April, July, August and November. Recruitment of young animals occurred in three peaks, viz; February, June and September, corresponding to low rainfall months. It was concluded that P. morio shows some form of seasonality in its breeding that may be related to rainfall.