| Small Asian Mongoose | |
|---|---|
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Family: | Herpestidae |
| Genus: | Herpestes |
| Species: | H. javanicus |
| Binomial name | |
| Herpestes javanicus (É. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1818) |
|
| Subspecies | |
|
H. j. javanicus |
|
| Small Asian Mongoose range | |
The Small Asian Mongoose (Herpestes javanicus), also known as the Indian Mongoose, Small Indian Mongoose, or the Javan Mongoose, is a species of mongoose found in the wild in South and Southeast Asia. It has also been introduced to various parts of the world.
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This species of mongoose is sympatric with Herpestes edwardsii in much of its native range and can be readily distinguished from the latter species by its much smaller size. The body is slender and the head is elongated with a pointed snout. The lengths of the head and body is 509-671mm. The ears are short. They have five toed feet with long claws. The sexes differ in size with males having a wider head and bigger size.[2]
They use about 12 different vocalizations.[3]
This species occurs naturally throughout most of southern mainland Asia, from Iraq to China, as well as on the island of Java, at altitudes up to 2200 m. It has also been introduced to dozens of islands in the Pacific and Caribbean example, Saint Lucia and Jamaica, and a few in the Indian Ocean and Mediterranean, as well as to mainland Venezuela. It is capable of living among fairly dense human populations.
The mongoose was introduced onto Okinawa Island in 1910 and Amami Ōshima Island in 1979 in an attempt to control the population of venomous habu and other pests; an invasive species, they have since become pests themselves.[4][5]
Mongooses live in scrublands and dry forest. On Pacific Islands they live in rainforests as well.
These mongooses mostly eat insects but are opportunistic feeders and will eat crabs, frogs, spiders, scorpions, snakes, and birds and bird eggs.
Mongooses are mostly solitary although males will sometimes form social groups and share burrows. Pregnancy duration is up to 49 days. A litter can consist of 2-5 young.
The 1800s were a huge century for sugar cane, and plantations shot up on many tropical islands including Hawai'i, Fiji and Jamaica. With sugar cane came rats, attracted to the sweet plant, which ended up causing crop destruction and loss. Attempts were made to introduce the species in Trinidad in 1870 but this failed.[6] A subsequent trial with four males and five females from Calcutta however established in Jamaica in 1872. A paper published by W. B. Espeut that praised the results intrigued Hawaiian plantation owners who, in 1883, brought 72 mongooses from Jamaica to the Hamakua Coast on the Big Island. These were raised and their offspring were shipped to plantations on other islands.[7] Populations that have been introduced to these islands show larger sizes than in their native ranges.[8] They also show genetic diversification due to drift and population isolation.[9]
Only the islands of Lana'i and Kaua'i are (thought to be) free of mongooses. There are two conflicting stories of why Kaua'i was spared. The first is that the residents of Kaua'i were opposed to having the animals on the island and when the ship carrying the offspring reached Kaua'i, the animals were thrown overboard and drowned. A second story tells that on arriving on Kaua'i one of the mongooses bit a dockworker who, in a fit of anger, threw the caged animals into the harbor to drown.
The mongoose introduction did not have the desired effect of rat control. The mongoose hunted birds and bird eggs, threatening many local island species. The mongooses bred prolifically with males becoming sexually mature at 4 months and females producing litters of 2-5 pups a year.
Mongooses can carry leptospirosis.[10]