When you first see a Fossa, you might think it’s a member of the cat family. However, it’s actually related to the mongoose! They’re about 23-30 inches long, with an extra 22-28 inches added for their tails, and they can weigh somewhere between 15 and 26 pounds. They have short brown fur, and retractable claws. They are native to Madagascar and are actually the largest carnivore on the island.
Black-footed Cats are the smallest cats in Africa – they only weigh about four pounds! They have interesting markings. Their fur can be from a yellow-brown to a cinnamon color, and they have black spots on their bodies that turn into rings around their legs and tail. They also have fur on their feet to protect them from the hot ground they experience in their habitats.
Black-footed ferrets are native animals to North America. They are part of the order Carnivora and the family Mustelidae. They weigh 1.5 to 2.5 pounds and are 18-24 inches long. They are considered endangered, with only several hundred left in the wild.
Striped Polecats are also known as Zorillas or Zorilles, and they can be found throughout Africa – from the east coast to the South.1 They are about 12-16 inches long, which doesn’t include their tail.
European Polecats are part of the Mustelidae family, which includes weasels, stoats, skunks, martens, mink, and otters.
Among the shrublands of Africa lives a fascinating mesocarnivore that is named after two other, more popular, species. However, the aardwolf is not related to either the aardvark or wolf, but rather an ancient member of the Hyaenidae, or hyena family. Even though...