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Written by Steve Andrews
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 Although the island of Tenerife offers many varied habitats the number of species of mammals found living here that are natives is very small and it isn’t much greater when you add in the introduced species.
There are several species of bats that may be seen. The Grey Long-eared Bat (Plecotus austriacus) is rare and according to Wikipedia it is endangered. It is a large bat and is identifiable by its long ears. It feeds mainly on moths and midges and likes to hunt over woodland. The Grey Long-Eared bat is also found in other parts of Europe including the UK.
Savi’s Pipistrelle (Pipistrellus savii) is a Mediterranean species, which is closely related to Kuhl’s Pipistrelle (Pipistrellus kuhlii) and the Madeira Pipistrelle (Pipistrellus maderensis). All three types of bat have been reported on Tenerife and the Canary Islands but their numbers are low due to the widespread use of insecticides on the crops grown here.
 The Egyptian Fruit Bat or Egyptian Rousette (Rousettus aegyptiacus) was reported to have set up colonies in Tenerife after it escaped from the Loro Parque zoo in Puerto de la Cruz. A lot of money was invested in eradicating the bats as a potential threat to farming and the ecology of the island but whether they were all wiped out is unclear.
The frequently encountered Brown Rat (Rattus norvegicus) and the less often seen Black Rat (Rattus rattus) are both found on Tenerife, which is perhaps not surprising because these enterprising rodents have followed people all over the world, as has the House Mouse (Mus musculus), another common species on the island.
 The rare endemic species, the Canarian Shrew (Crocidura canariensis), which lives in scrubland and feeds on insects, has been reported from Tenerife is also found on Lanzarote and Fuerteventura. The very tiny Etruscan or White-toothed Pygmy Shrew (Suncus etruscus) is a very common mammal all over the island and is often found in the heart of towns. This species is the smallest known mammal when measured by mass, which is only 2 grams, and it is believed to have been introduced to the island.
Another wild mammal found on Tenerife is the Algerian Hedgehog (Erinaceus algirus). It looks very much like the European Hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) but is smaller. Like others in the hedgehog family it is an insectivore but besides insects and slugs and snails it also eats lizards and other small animals.
The Algerian Hedgehog lives in a variety of habitats including the semi-desert scrubland in the south of Tenerife. Like its cousins in the UK it unfortunately often gets killed on the roads at night, and for many people seeing the dead body of a hedgehog that has been run over would be their only clue that the animal was living on the island.
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Tenerife Island