Cynictis penicillata

Yellow mongoose (Cynictis penicillata, G. Cuvier, 1829) is a carnivorous animal of the genus Cynictis in the family Viverridae. There are 12 known subspecies.

The pen-tailed mongoose lives in groups, some go out to hunt insects, while others take turns on duty. When standing, they support their bodies with their tails and look around. When there is danger, they will make a sound to warn their companions, and they will also work together to drive away invading birds. When raising offspring, there is usually one or more adult mongooses who act as marriage guardians and protect their offspring. Mongooses are also good at catching snakes. They jump back and forth to deal with snakes, and then wait for an opportunity to bite the snake's neck and kill it. Even if the mongoose is bitten by a snake, it has a strong resistance to venom.

The mating season of the pen-tailed mongoose is from July to September every year, with a gestation period of 45-47 days and a birthing period from October to December. The pen-tailed mongoose gives birth to 2-4 pups per litter, with a weaning period of ten weeks and ten months to grow into an adult. The pen-tailed mongoose usually consists of a pair of breeding adults, their offspring and unreproducing sub-adults. When other pen-tailed mongooses go out to eat, the adult pen-tailed mongooses at home will take turns to take care of the small pen-tailed mongooses. The small pen-tailed mongooses start hunting when they are about 1 month old. Each small pen-tailed mongoose has a dedicated adult pen-tailed mongoose to teach it how to catch prey.

The pen-tailed mongoose mainly feeds on insects (such as termites, ants and beetles), but its diet also includes birds, eggs, frogs and rodents. Natural enemies include birds of prey, snakes and jackals.

The IUCN Red List lists it as Least Concern (LC).

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Distributed in Namibia, Botswana, South Africa, and northern Angola, it lives in open grasslands and semi-desert scrub.

The average weight of the pen-tailed mongoose is about 0.5 kg, the body length is 23-33 cm, and the tail length is 18-25 cm. It lives in semi-desert shrub areas and grasslands in Angola, Botswana, South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe.
The pen-tailed mongoose is generally yellow in color. This medium-sized mongoose has a variable color, which depends on its distribution area. The southern subspecies is slightly larger, with longer fur, yellow or reddish brown, and a longer tail with a white tip. The northern pen-tailed mongoose is gray in color, with a gray or dark gray tip to its tail. The pen-tailed mongoose's dark eye circles protect its eyes from the strong sunlight.