African mammal isn't happy going back East (6)
I believe the answer is:
dassie
'african' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I don't see how one could define the other.
'mammal isn't happy going back east' is the wordplay.
'mammal' becomes 'das' (das is a kind of mammal).
'isn't happy' becomes 'is' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'going back' says the letters should be written in reverse.
'east' becomes 'e' (synonyms).
'is' back-to-front is 'si'.
'das'+'si'+'e'='DASSIE'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for dassie that I've seen before include "One animal" , "rock rabbit" , "Hyrax" .)