White-tailed mongoose

The white-tailed mongoose, Ichneumia albicauda, is the only member of the genus Ichneumia and on average the longest and heaviest living mongoose, weighing 1.8 to 5.2 kilograms with a head and body length of 53 to 71 centimeters. Its yellow to tan body carries long black guard hairs that give a grizzled grey look, its legs are black below the knee, and the distal half of its bushy tail is white. It lives in most of Africa south of the Sahara and the southern Arabian Peninsula in habitats from semi-desert to savanna woodland, preferring thick cover. It is primarily nocturnal and mostly solitary, and it feeds mostly on insects such as locusts, beetles and mole crickets as well as rodents, lizards, snakes, small birds, eggs and some fruit.