Carnivores: Aardwolf African Wild Cat African Wild Dog Banded Mongoose Bat Eared Fox Black-backed Jackal Brown Hyena Cape Clawless Otter Cape Fox Caracal Cheetah Civet Dhole Ethiopian Wolf Large Spotted Genet Golden Jackal Honey badger Jaguar Leopard African Lion Asiatic Lion Sand Cat Serval Side Striped Jackal Snow Leopard Spotted Hyena Striped Hyena Suricate (Meercat) Tiger White Tailed Mongoose Yellow Mongoose
The Yellow Mongoose is around 40-60 cm in length with a slender tapered tail of 18-30cm length. In Southern Africa, their coat is a rich tawny yellow colour with a white tipped tail. In Northern Botswana they are more grey in colour and lack the white tip to the tail and they are also slightly smaller.
Yellow Mongoose are diurnal (mainly active during the day) and are occasionally active at night. They are highly sociable and live in large troops - typically between 20 and 50 individuals, but larger troops have been recorded. The dominant male in the troop marks the troops territory.
Yellow Mongoose dens are usually disused burrows left by other animals such as antbears or spring hares which the yellow mongoose then expand considerably. The burrows are sometimes shared with ground squirrels, Suricates or other mongoose species.
Yellow Mongoose eat insects and other invertebrates such as beetles, ants, harvester termites, spiders and centipedes as well as small birds, rodents and reptiles.
The Yellow Mongoose has a gestation period of around 60 days after which they give birth to between 2 and 4 young in the den - with 2 being the most common number of young born. The young are mainly born in the summer (October to March). The young leave the burrow at 2 months old and are fully grown at 10 months old.
The Yellow Mongoose is found in open grassland, farmland and semi-desert areas as well as hilly areas. Yellow Mongoose can be found in Namibia, Botswana, South Africa and Southern Angola.
© Predator Conservation Trust.
