Bushy-tailed mongoose
The Buschschwanzmanguste ( Bdeogale crassicauda ) is a carnivore from the mongoose family ( Herpestidae ). It is native from southern Kenya into middle Mozambique in eastern Africa and also occurs in Yemen. Named giving feature is the bushy tail. They feed almost exclusively on insects, preferably ants and termites.
Features
The Buschschwanzmanguste is a medium sized Mangustenart with brown coat color ( a subspecies is described as yellowish brown). The body length including head is less than 50 cm, the tail is up to 30 cm long and the animal weighs more than two pounds. Characteristic are the four toes on the front and hind legs as well as the eponymous bushy tail. The slightly larger compared Schwarzfußmanguste ( Bdeogale nigripes ) appears brighter and has a silvery- gray color, which is in contrast with the dark legs. The southern part of the range sympatric occurring Trugmanguste ( Paracynictis selousi ) is slightly larger and grayish, also she has a white tail tip.
Distribution and habitat
The distribution of Buschschwanzmanguste located in the eastern Africa, ranging from southern Kenya to central Mozambique after and includes this Malawi, Eastern Zambia, a portion of the south-eastern Republic of the Congo and Tanzania. Moreover, the kind found on the island of Zanzibar. The altitudinal distribution ranges up to altitudes of 1,850 meters.
System
The Buschschwanzmanguste is one of three types of Schwarzfußmangusten ( Bdeogale ) within the mongoose ( Herpestidae ). The species itself is divided up into five subspecies, with only very little material is available:
- B. c. crassicauda, terra typica in Mozambique
- B. c. omnivora, terra typica at mazeras, formerly British East Africa (now Kenya). This subspecies is listed by the World Conservation Union IUCN Red List of Threatened Species as a separate species B.omnivora.
- B. c. Puisa
- B. c. tenuis, Zanzibar
Hazardous situation
The subspecies B. c. omnivora seen by the IUCN Red List of threatened species under the species name B.omnivora as vulnerable ( " Vulnerable "). Composition of the separate indicated there kind of Buschschwanzmanguste is referred to as not at risk ( "Least Concern" ).