Herpestes javanicusIndian mongoose(Also: Javan mongoose)

Ge­o­graphic Range

The small In­dian mon­goose was orig­i­nally found across south­east Asia from Pak­istan to the south coast of China, and through­out the Malay Penin­sula and Java (Cor­bet and Hill 1992). How­ever, this species has been widely in­tro­duced, in­clud­ing to the West In­dies, South Amer­ica, Japan, Eu­rope and sev­eral Pa­cific is­lands, to help con­trol ro­dent and snake pop­u­la­tions (Nel­lis and Ever­ard 1983, Tyrtkovic and Krystufek 1990, Ogura et al. 1998). (Cor­bet and Hill, 1992; Nel­lis and Ever­ard, 1983; Ogura, et al., 1998; Tyrtkovic and Kry­sufek, 1990)

Habi­tat

In the Caribbean, small In­dian mon­gooses are found only in dry for­est and scrub­land (Nel­lis and Ever­ard 1983). On Pa­cific is­lands, they are found both in these dry habi­tats and also in rain­for­est (Tomich 1979). No study has been done to de­ter­mine their habi­tat in the nat­ural range. (Nel­lis and Ever­ard, 1983; Tomich, 1979)

Phys­i­cal De­scrip­tion

The Javan mon­goose shares the typ­i­cal traits of mon­gooses but is small. They have a pointed head, a long tail, and thick hair ex­cept on their lower legs (Ewer 1977). Their fur coat can stand on end, which make the an­i­mal ap­pear twice as large when it com­bats such en­e­mies as poi­so­nous rep­tiles.

Males av­er­age 650 g in weight and fe­males 430 g. (Ewer, 1977)

  • Sexual Dimorphism
  • male larger
  • Range mass
    0 to 0 kg
    0.00 to 0.00 lb
  • Average basal metabolic rate
    2.248 W
    AnAge

Re­pro­duc­tion

The males of the species be­come sex­u­ally ma­ture in as lit­tle as four months fol­low­ing birth. Once the male's testes be­come fully ma­ture, they con­tinue to con­tain sper­ma­to­zoa for the rest of the life of the in­di­vid­ual. In the North­ern Hemi­sphere, breed­ing fe­males are found from the end of Feb­ru­ary until early Sep­tem­ber (Pear­son & Bald­win 1953, Nel­lis and Ever­ard 1983), and in the South­ern Hemi­sphere from Au­gust through Feb­ru­ary (Gor­man 1976).

The du­ra­tion of preg­nancy is 49 days. A lit­ter typ­i­cally con­sists of two young, but as many as five have been recorded (Nel­lis and Ever­ard 1983). (Gor­man, 1976; Nel­lis and Ever­ard, 1983; Pear­son and Bald­win, 1953)

  • Breeding season
    Breeding occurs during the summer months of the year.
  • Range number of offspring
    1 to 5
  • Average number of offspring
    2
  • Average number of offspring
    2
    AnAge
  • Average gestation period
    49 days
  • Average gestation period
    49 days
    AnAge
  • Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female)
    Sex: female
    301 days
    AnAge
  • Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male)
    Sex: male
    122 days
    AnAge

Lifes­pan/Longevity

Be­hav­ior

Small In­dian mon­gooses are com­pletely di­ur­nal an­i­mals. In cap­tiv­ity, adults take part in many types of play and games of cu­rios­ity (Nel­lis and Ever­ard). Mu­tual groom­ing has been ob­served be­tween cap­tive in­di­vid­u­als of ei­ther sex, but only be­tween mother and off­spring in wild in­di­vid­u­als (Nel­lis and Ever­ard 1983).

Though this is usu­ally de­scribed as a soli­tary species, males have been found to form so­cial groups and even to share bur­rows, at least dur­ing the breed­ing sea­son (Hays, in re­view). Be­hav­ior that pro­motes ei­ther body warm­ing or cool­ing has been de­scribed by Bald­win. Warm­ing is done in the early hours by ex­pos­ing as much as pos­si­ble of the ven­tral sur­face to the sun. In hot sun­light they usu­ally cease to be ac­tive be­fore pant­ing. When it be­comes too hot they seek out the shade and a cool sur­face on which to lie on their stom­achs. If a cool sur­face is not avail­able, they some­times scratch away the warm sur­face soil be­fore lying down (Bald­win et al. 1952). (Bald­win, et al., 1952; Nel­lis and Ever­ard, 1983)

Com­mu­ni­ca­tion and Per­cep­tion

Food Habits

Sev­eral large field stud­ies have re­vealed the small In­dian mon­goose to be pri­mar­ily an in­sec­ti­vore, though it also feeds op­por­tunis­ti­cally on small ver­te­brates (stud­ies sum­ma­rized in Cav­allini and Ser­afini 1995). An early field study of the amount and type of food eaten by a mon­goose was done on the small In­dian mon­goose on the is­land of Trinidad (Williams 1918). In this study, the na­ture of their food­stuffs de­pended largely on the op­por­tu­ni­ties avail­able. An ex­am­i­na­tion of the stom­achs of 180 in­di­vid­u­als re­vealed in­sects, spi­ders, snails, slugs, frogs, lizards, snakes, birds, eggs of birds and rep­tiles, all kinds of ro­dents, crabs, fish and fruits (Williams 1918). Mem­bers of this species have also been known to catch mam­mals many times their size, up to the size of hares and even the young of white-tailed deer (Sea­man & Ran­dall 1962). (Cav­allini and Nel, 1995; Sea­man and Ran­dall, 1962; Williams, 1918)

Small In­dian mon­gooses, like many other mon­goose species, are fa­mous for their killing tech­niques, par­tic­u­lar when it comes to ven­omous snakes such as fer-de-lance and habu pit vipers, which they kill in cap­tiv­ity. Ver­te­brate prey is usu­ally killed with a bite to the back of the head (Ewer 1977). (Ewer, 1977)

  • Animal Foods
  • birds
  • mammals
  • amphibians
  • reptiles
  • eggs
  • carrion
  • insects
  • terrestrial non-insect arthropods
  • mollusks
  • terrestrial worms
  • aquatic crustaceans
  • Plant Foods
  • seeds, grains, and nuts
  • fruit

Eco­nomic Im­por­tance for Hu­mans: Pos­i­tive

This mon­goose was in­tro­duced into many na­tions of the West In­dies, be­gin­ning in the 1870s, for the pur­pose of con­trol­ling rats in sugar cane plan­ta­tions. In 1883 they were im­ported to the Hawai­ian Is­lands for the same rea­son. Both cases proved to be among the most dis­as­trous at­tempts ever made at bi­o­log­i­cal con­trol. In both in­stances the mon­goose not only did tremen­dous dam­age on its own ac­count (ex­tir­pat­ing many na­tive species), but at best only par­tially re­duced the pop­u­la­tions of rats (Hin­ton & Dunn 1967). (Hin­ton and Dunn, 1967)

Eco­nomic Im­por­tance for Hu­mans: Neg­a­tive

No study has checked whether small In­dian mon­gooses in their na­tive range af­fect hu­mans. Pop­u­la­tions in many areas of in­tro­duc­tion carry ra­bies, and im­mense pro­grams are oc­ca­sion­ally needed to con­trol these pop­u­la­tions (Nel­lis and Ever­ard 1983). In­tro­duced pop­u­la­tions have also dri­ven at least one bird species ex­tinct, and have ex­tir­pated dozens of ver­te­brates from is­lands around the world, in­clud­ing many en­dan­gered species (Hays and Co­nant, in re­view). (Nel­lis and Ever­ard, 1983)

Con­ser­va­tion Sta­tus

Its con­ser­va­tion is not an issue; in fact in the West In­dies and Hawai­ian is­lands con­trol mea­sures are nec­es­sary and ex­pen­sive.

Con­trib­u­tors

Jerod Lutz (au­thor), Uni­ver­sity of Michi­gan-Ann Arbor, Phil Myers (ed­i­tor), Mu­seum of Zo­ol­ogy, Uni­ver­sity of Michi­gan-Ann Arbor.

Glossary

bilateral symmetry

having body symmetry such that the animal can be divided in one plane into two mirror-image halves. Animals with bilateral symmetry have dorsal and ventral sides, as well as anterior and posterior ends. Synapomorphy of the Bilateria.

carnivore

an animal that mainly eats meat

carrion

flesh of dead animals.

chemical

uses smells or other chemicals to communicate

diurnal
  1. active during the day, 2. lasting for one day.
endothermic

animals that use metabolically generated heat to regulate body temperature independently of ambient temperature. Endothermy is a synapomorphy of the Mammalia, although it may have arisen in a (now extinct) synapsid ancestor; the fossil record does not distinguish these possibilities. Convergent in birds.

forest

forest biomes are dominated by trees, otherwise forest biomes can vary widely in amount of precipitation and seasonality.

insectivore

An animal that eats mainly insects or spiders.

iteroparous

offspring are produced in more than one group (litters, clutches, etc.) and across multiple seasons (or other periods hospitable to reproduction). Iteroparous animals must, by definition, survive over multiple seasons (or periodic condition changes).

motile

having the capacity to move from one place to another.

native range

the area in which the animal is naturally found, the region in which it is endemic.

oriental

found in the oriental region of the world. In other words, India and southeast Asia.

World Map

rainforest

rainforests, both temperate and tropical, are dominated by trees often forming a closed canopy with little light reaching the ground. Epiphytes and climbing plants are also abundant. Precipitation is typically not limiting, but may be somewhat seasonal.

scrub forest

scrub forests develop in areas that experience dry seasons.

seasonal breeding

breeding is confined to a particular season

sedentary

remains in the same area

sexual

reproduction that includes combining the genetic contribution of two individuals, a male and a female

solitary

lives alone

tactile

uses touch to communicate

terrestrial

Living on the ground.

tropical

the region of the earth that surrounds the equator, from 23.5 degrees north to 23.5 degrees south.

viviparous

reproduction in which fertilization and development take place within the female body and the developing embryo derives nourishment from the female.

Ref­er­ences

Bald­win, P., C. Schwartz, E. Schwartz. 1952. Life hi­tory and eco­nomic sta­tus of the mon­goose in Hawaii. Jour­nal Mam­mal, 33: 335-356.

Cav­allini, P., J. Nel. 1995. Com­par­a­tive be­hav­ior and ecol­ogy of two sym­patric mon­goose species (Cyn­ic­tis peni­cil­lata and Galerella pul­veru­lenta). South African Jour­nal of Zo­ol­ogy, 30: 46-49.

Cor­bet, G., J. Hill. 1992. The Mam­mals of the In­do­ma­layan Re­gion. Ox­ford: Ox­ford Uni­ver­sity Press.

Ewer, R. 1977. The Car­ni­vores. New York: Cor­nell Uni­ver­sity Press.

Gor­man, M. 1976. Sea­sonal changes in the re­pro­duc­tive pat­tern of feral Her­pestes au­rop­unc­ta­tus in the Fi­jian Is­lands. Jour­nal of Zo­ol­ogy, 178: 237-246.

Hays, W., S. Co­nant. Im­pact of the small In­dian mon­goose (*Her­pestes ja­van­i­cus*) (Car­nivora: Her­pesti­dae) on na­tive ver­te­brate pop­u­la­tions in areas of in­tro­duc­tion. Pa­cific Sci­ence, ~in re­view~.

Hays, W., S. Co­nant. Male so­cial ac­tiv­ity in the small In­dian mon­goose, *Her­pestes ja­van­i­cus*. Acta The­ri­o­log­ica, ~in re­view~.

Hin­ton, H., A. Dunn. 1967. Mon­gooses: Their Nat­ural His­tory & Be­hav­ior. Lon­don: Oliver & Boyd Ltd.

Nel­lis, D., C. Ever­ard. 1983. The bi­ol­ogy of the mon­goose in the Caribbean. Stud­ies of the fauna of Cu­ra­cae and other Caribbean is­lands, 195: 1-162.

Ogura, G., M. Sakashita, Y. Kawashima. 1998. Ex­ter­nal mor­phol­ogy and clas­si­fi­ca­tion of mon­goose on Ok­i­nawa is­land. Ho­nyu­rui Ka­gaku, 38: 259-270.

Pear­son, O., P. Bald­win. 1953. Re­pro­duc­tion and age struc­ture of a mon­goose pop­u­la­tion in Hawaii. Jour­nal Mam­mal, 34: 436-447.

Schrieber, A., R. Wirth, M. Rif­fel, H. Van Rompaey. 1989. An ac­tion plan for the con­ser­va­tion of mustelids and viver­rids. Weasels, Civets, Mon­gooses and their Rel­a­tives, 2: 43-46.

Sea­man, G., J. Ran­dall. 1962. The mon­goose as a preda­tor in the Vir­gin Is­lands. Jour­nal Mam­mal, 43: 544-546.

Tomich, P. 1979. Stud­ies of lep­tospiro­sis in nat­ural host pop­u­la­tions. 1 Small mam­mals of Wai­pio val­ley, is­land of Hawaii. Pa­cific Sci­ence, 33: 257-279.

Tyrtkovic, N., B. Kry­sufek. 1990. Small In­dian mon­goose, Her­pestes au­rop­unc­ta­tus (Hodg­son 1936) on the Adri­atic Is­lands of Yu­goslavia. Bon­ner Zo­ol­o­gis­che Beitrage, 41: 3-8.

Williams, C. 1918. The food habits of the mon­goose in Trinidad. Bul­letin of Dept. of Agri­cul­ture of Trinidad & To­bago, 17: 167-186.