Jackson's Mongoose

Jackson's mongoose is silvery grey with yellowish cheeks, throat and sides of the neck, a grizzled grey crown, but a brownish white muzzle and chin and a few brown hairs around the eyes. Its round ears are grizzled grey outside and yellowish inside. Its belly is light grey, its legs blackish brown or black, and the tip of the tail white. The dorsal hair is 20 mm (0.79 in) long with black and white rings, and it has dense and woolly underfur. The muzzle is blunt. The rhinarium is large, and the hairless extension of the median groove divides the upper lip. The fore and hind feet have only four digits without hallux and pollex. The soles are naked, and the claws are thick and strong. It is a large mongoose with a head and body length of 50.8–57.1 cm (20.0–22.5 in) and a 28.3–32.4 cm (11.1–12.8 in) long bushy tail. Its hind foot is 8.6–10.8 cm (3.4–4.3 in) long and its ear 2.3–3.5 cm (0.91–1.38 in) long. It weighs 2–3 kg (4.4–6.6 lb). The dental formula is 3.1.4.23.1.4.2 × 2 = 40, with three incisors, one canine, four premolars and two molars on either side of the jaw. Young but already breeding animals may be markedly smaller than adults. From the black-footed mongoose, it is distinguishable by its much longer fur, especially on the tail, and yellowish tints on neck and throat.

Jackson's mongoose is distributed in central and southern Kenya and southeastern Uganda, where it was recorded in the Aberdare Range, Mount Kenya and the Mount Elgon mountains at elevations from 300 to 3,300 m (980 to 10,830 ft). It inhabits lowland forests, bamboo and montane forests. In Tanzania's Udzungwa Mountains, it was first recorded in 2002 in the Matundu Forest.

Jackson's mongoose is mainly nocturnal and crepuscular. In the Udzungwa Mountains, most of the 25 camera trap photos were taken by night. It is possibly solitary, but was also recorded in pairs and occasionally in groups of four. Nothing is known about its reproduction. It probably hunts frequently in the thick herbaceous vegetation around swamps. It is an omnivore. Analysis of 40 feces samples collected in the Aberdare Mountains revealed that they contained remains of army ants, beetles, weevils, millipedes and caterpillars, rodents including Otomys, Dasymys and Praomys, as well as snails, lizards, and snake eggs. The diet of juveniles consisted foremost of rodents and insects. Feeding on army ants may be a recent evolutionary adaptation to this diet.