Gambian Mongoose

About the Gambian Mongoose

The Gambian mongoose (Mungos gambianus) is a mongoose species native to the Guinean forest-savanna mosaic from Gambia to Nigeria. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List since 2008. Herpestes gambianus was the scientific name proposed by William Ogilby in 1835 for a mongoose specimen from Gambia.

The Gambian mongoose has a grizzled grey and brown fur, which is mixed with red on the back, hips and thighs. Its throat and the sides of the neck are pale silvery brown, and the neck is marked with a dark brown stripe running from the ear to the shoulder. The breast, belly and inner sides of the legs are red. Its feet are black, and its tail is mixed with black and has a black tuft at the end.

It has five toes on each foot, which is bare from the sole to the wrist and heel. Their faces are short, and have only two molars on each jaw. Females have six mammae. The Gambian mongoose is endemic to West Africa where it can be found in the mesic savannas and woodlands from Senegal and Gambia in the west east to Nigeria. The Gambian mongoose is diurnal, gregarious and terrestrial. They live in... Wikipedia →