Yellow mongoose

The yellow mongoose, Cynictis penicillata, sometimes called the red meerkat, is a small mongoose of southern Africa that averages about 0.45 kilograms in weight and about 510 millimeters in length. It lives in open country, semi-desert scrubland and grasslands in Angola, Botswana, South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe, and it is the only species in its genus. It is mainly diurnal and lives in colonies of up to 20 individuals in permanent burrow complexes, often sharing them with Cape ground squirrels or suricates. A carnivore, it feeds mostly on beetles, termites, grasshoppers and other insects, and also on rodents, small birds, reptiles, amphibians and eggs. Some genetic strains can carry rabies without symptoms, which has drawn attention to its role as a natural reservoir of the disease.