Diet Rock hyraxes spend several hours sunbathing in the mornings, followed by short excursions to feed. They eat quickly with the family group facing out from a circle to watch for potential predators, feeding on grasses, herbage, leaves, fruit, insects, lizards and birds' eggs. After biting off a mouthful of grass or leaves, the hyrax looks up and cautiously checks the vicinity. If the territorial male gives the shrill shriek of alarm, the hyraxes jump or scuttle to cover where they remain frozen, without moving, until the danger has passed. They can go a long time without water, apparently obtaining enough moisture from their food.
Tree hyraxes feed on leaves and fruits.
Caring for the Young Rock hyraxes bear two or three young, which are so fully developed they can run and jump about an hour after birth. Although suckled until 3 months old, the young begin to eat vegetation by their second day. The young of all females in a family group often gather in a nursery group. Predators Hyraxes are preyed upon by leopards, pythons, large birds, caracals, servals and civets. They protect themselves from smaller predators by biting, but escaping to hiding places among the rocks is their best defense.