The edges of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park support a fascinating assemblage of small and medium carnivores that most gorilla trekkers overlook. Chief among these edge-adapted species is the side-striped jackal, but the guild also includes the African civet, the banded mongoose, and—deeper into the forest—the serval cat.
Side-striped jackal: the nocturnal border patrol
The side-striped jackal (Lupulella adusta) is the more forest-adapted of Africa’s two common jackal species, found in moist woodland and forest edge habitats across sub-Saharan Africa. In the Bwindi area, it is most active at night and in the early morning. Trekkers departing for the park briefing at dawn may encounter one on the road near the lodge or in open ground adjacent to the forest. The side stripe—a pale band along the flank with a darker stripe below it—distinguishes it from the black-backed jackal at a distance.
Side-striped jackals are omnivores, consuming small mammals, birds, reptiles, insects, fallen fruit, and carrion. Near forest edges they take advantage of both the food resources of adjacent farmland and the forest’s provision of shelter and denning sites. Their tolerance of human-modified habitats makes them more visible to gorilla trekkers than most forest carnivores.
African civet: the night-time perfume-maker
The African civet (Civettictis civetta) is a large, raccoon-sized carnivore with a distinctive black and white patterned coat and a crest of coarse hair along the spine that it erects when alarmed. Civets are entirely nocturnal and solitary, rarely seen in person—but their characteristic latrines, called “civetries,” are found throughout the forest edge. These communal dung piles are used for territorial marking, and their contents—undigested seeds, insect remains—provide a detailed record of the civet’s diet.
The civet’s musk gland produces a waxy substance called civetone that has been exploited for centuries in perfume production as a fixative. Wild civets in Bwindi use their musk for social and territorial communication in the nocturnal forest edge landscape.
Banded mongooses: the daytime opportunists
Banded mongooses (Mungos mungo) are among the more easily observed small carnivores near Bwindi, as they are diurnal and highly social, moving in family groups of 10 to 30 individuals. Their distinctive banded pattern—alternating dark and pale transverse bars on the back—distinguishes them at a glance. Groups move rapidly through terrain, individuals foraging independently while maintaining contact through a constant repertoire of chittering calls.
Banded mongooses eat a wide range of invertebrates, small vertebrates, eggs, and occasional fruit. Several lodges near Bwindi have established mongoose families as semi-permanent residents of their garden areas, providing informal wildlife watching without any need for forest entry.
The ecological role of forest-edge carnivores
Forest-edge carnivores are important regulators of rodent and invertebrate populations in the agricultural matrix surrounding Bwindi. Jackals and civets consume significant quantities of cane rats and multimammate mice that damage crops—a service that creates direct economic benefit to border community farmers. Recognising this service connection between wildlife and agriculture is part of what community conservation programmes near Bwindi attempt to communicate: the animals that move between forest and farm are active contributors to the agricultural system communities depend on.
