While cruising through Kruger National Park on a solo safari adventure, Cheryl Chanderpal was ready for whatever wildlife might cross her path. A lifelong South African and nature enthusiast, she knew that the quietest roads often hold the biggest surprises.
“We had just passed a hyena and turned onto a still, empty road,” Chanderpal told The Dodo. “Those are always my favorite—you never know what might be hiding just out of sight.”
Moments later, something small and strange darted across the road. Chanderpal instinctively raised her camera and snapped a photo—but it wasn’t until she looked at the image that she burst out laughing.
There, caught mid-motion, was a bizarre little creature that looked… oddly familiar. It had the gangly look of a giraffe, the posture of a tiny dinosaur, and the energy of a cartoon character.
“I couldn’t stop laughing when I saw it,” she said. “I posted the photo just for fun to see what people thought it was.”
The internet delivered: guesses ranged from a “mini brontosaurus” to a “tiny giraffe” to a “prehistoric squirrel.” And honestly, none of them seemed too far off.
But once her car got a little closer, the mystery was solved.
“It was actually a common dwarf mongoose,” Chanderpal said. “They’re small, quick, and absolutely adorable.”
As she watched, the tiny mongoose climbed a nearby tree, pausing there to scout the area—likely making sure it was safe for the rest of his family to cross.
“Animals are just the best,” she said.
Though Chanderpal went on to snap clearer, more traditional shots of the mongoose, it’s that first whimsical photo—where the little guy briefly looked like something straight out of a nature-themed fairytale—that remains her favorite.
