Sokoke dog mongoose

The Sokoke dog mongoose, Bdeogale omnivora, is a mongoose species endemic to the East African coastal forests of Tanzania and Kenya. It was first observed at Amani Nature Reserve in Tanzania in 1939 and was not recorded in that country again until ornithologists sighted one during a bird watching excursion in July 2003. Camera trap surveys in 2019 then identified it in two Kenyan coastal forests, the Boni-Dodori Forest Complex and Arabuko Sokoke National Park. It is closely related to Bdeogale crassicauda but differs mainly in coat colour and in being smaller. The body is covered with yellow to orange underfur and grizzled dark brown guard hairs with lighter annulations, the limbs are dark chocolate brown to black, the head is small with rounded ears, and the tail is bushy and short. Many individuals were captured in Brachystegia woodland, and the animals are strictly nocturnal.