First a honey badger and cub, now a slender mongoose has made a surprise cameo at the Walter Sisulu National Botanical Garden!
Johannesburg, South Africa (25 August 2025) – Walter Sisulu National Botanical Garden has had quite the week. Not too long ago, we were treated to trap camera footage of a honey badger and young cub wandering through the protected grounds.
Now, a quick-footed slender mongoose has stolen the show in a really cute peek-a-boo cameo.
The video, shared online, shows our curious little friend darting across the frame to check out the camera – the very same one that saw the honey badger family pass through just last week.
For anyone who’s never seen a slender mongoose before, they are quite shy by nature. They don’t exactly line up to get their portrait snapped. Except for this time.
The slender mongoose is identified by its long black-tipped tail, a feature that sets it apart from other mongooses.They’re small, too. Males weigh just over 700g while females come in at around 575g. Tiny as they are, they’re bold little hunters with a taste for rodents, reptiles, insects and they’re partial to the occasional piece of fruit.
They commonly stick to the ground, but they’re surprisingly good climbers, too. While they live mostly alone, sometimes up to four males will team up to share overlapping ranges with several females.
In the wild, they can live up to 8-10 years if they keep out of trouble with bigger predators.
They’re not rare, but they’re not exactly easy to spot either. Especially in more urban spaces like Johannesburg, where it’s unusual to see such secretive little guys passing by, let alone stopping for a cameo.
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