Egyptian mongoose

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Egyptian mongoose
Temporal range: Pleistocene–Present
↓

Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Suborder: Feliformia
Family: Herpestidae
Genus: Herpestes
Species:
H. ichneumon
Binomial name
Herpestes ichneumon
Egyptian mongoose range
(green – native, red – possibly introduced)
Synonyms

Viverra ichneumon Linnaeus, 1758

The Egyptian mongoose (Herpestes ichneumon), also known as ichneumon (

Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.[1]

Characteristics

Egyptian mongoose skull

The Egyptian mongoose's long, coarse fur is grey to reddish brown and ticked with brown and yellow flecks. Its snout is pointed, its ears are small. Its slender body is 48–60 cm (1 ft 7 in – 2 ft 0 in) long with a 33–54 cm (1 ft 1 in – 1 ft 9 in) long black tipped tail. Its hind feet and a small area around the eyes are furless. It has 35–40 teeth, with highly developed carnassials, used for shearing meat. It weighs 1.7–4 kg (3.7–8.8 lb).[3]

Sexually dimorphic Egyptian mongooses were observed in Portugal, where some females are smaller than males.[4]

Female Egyptian mongooses have 44 chromosomes, and males 43, as one Y chromosome is translocated to an autosome.[5]

Distribution and habitat

The Egyptian mongoose lives in swampy and marshy habitats near streams, rivers, lakes and in coastal areas. Where it inhabits maquis shrubland in the Iberian Peninsula, it prefers areas close to rivers with dense vegetation. It does not occur in deserts.[3]

It has been recorded in

Andalucía to the Strait of Gibraltar.[6][7]

In North Africa, it occurs along the coast from Western Sahara to Tunisia, and from northern Egypt across the Sinai Peninsula.[1] In Egypt, one individual was observed in Faiyum Oasis in 1993. In the same year, its tracks were recorded in sand dunes close to the coast near Sidi Barrani.[8] An individual was observed on an island in Lake Burullus in the Nile Delta during an ecological survey in the late 1990s.[9] In the Palestinian territories, it was recorded in the Gaza Strip and Jericho Governorate in the West Bank during surveys carried out between 2012 and 2016.[10] In western

taxidermied specimens were offered in local shops.[11]
In southern Turkey, it was recorded in the Hatay and Adana Provinces.[12]

In Sudan, it is present in the vicinity of human settlements along the

Alatash protected area complex during surveys between 2015 and 2018.[14] In Ethiopia, the Egyptian mongoose was recorded at altitudes of 2,000–3,000 metres (6,600–9,800 ft) in the Ethiopian Highlands.[15][16]

In

grasses.[17]
In Guinea's National Park of Upper Niger, the occurrence of the Egyptian mongoose was first documented during surveys in spring 1997. Surveyors found dead individuals on bushmeat markets in villages located in the vicinity of the park.[18]

In Gabon's Moukalaba-Doudou National Park, it was recorded only in savanna habitats.[19] In the

Republic of Congo, it was repeatedly observed in the Western Congolian forest–savanna mosaic of Odzala-Kokoua National Park during surveys in 2007.[20]

In the 1990s, it was considered a common species in Tanzania's Mkomazi National Park.[21]

Occurrence in Iberian Peninsula

Several hypotheses were proposed to explain the occurrence of the Egyptian mongoose in the Iberian Peninsula:

Behaviour and ecology

The Egyptian mongoose is active during the day

The Egyptian mongoose is

diurnal.[25]
In Doñana National Park, single Egyptian mongooses, pairs and groups of up to five individuals were observed. Adult males showed territorial behaviour, and shared their home ranges with one or several females. The home ranges of adult females overlapped to some degree, except in core areas where they raised their offspring.[26]

It preys on

insects. It also feeds on fruit and eggs. To crack eggs open, it throws them between its legs against a rock or wall.[3]
In Doñana National Park, 30 Egyptian mongooses were
faeces collected. These samples contained remains of European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus), sand lizards (Psammodromus), Iberian spadefoot toad (Pelobates cultripes), greater white-toothed shrew (Crocidura russula), three-toed skink (Chalcides chalcides), dabbling ducks (Anas), western cattle egret (Bubulcus ibis), wild boar (Sus scrofa) meat, Algerian mouse (Mus spretus) and rat species (Rattus).[27]
Research in southeastern Nigeria revealed that it also feeds on
Hallowell's toad (Amietophrynus maculatus), African brown water snake (Afronatrix anoscopus), and Mabuya skinks.[28]
It attacks and feeds on venomous snakes, and is resistant to the venom of Palestine viper (Daboia palaestinae), black desert cobra (Walterinnesia aegyptia) and black-necked spitting cobra (Naja nigricollis).[29]

In Spain, it has been recorded less frequently in areas where the Iberian lynx was reintroduced.[30]

Reproduction

Captive males and females reach sexual maturity at the age of two years.[31] In Doñana National Park, courtship and mating happens in spring between February and June. Two to three pups are born between mid April and mid August after a gestation of 11 weeks.[32] They are hairless at first, and open their eyes after about a week. Females take care of them for up to one year, occasionally also longer. They start foraging on their own at the age of four months, but compete for food brought back to them after that age. In the wild, Egyptian mongooses probably reach 12 years of age. A captive Egyptian mongoose was over 20 years old.[3] Its generation length is 7.5 years.[33]

Taxonomy

In 1758,

scientific name Viverra ichneumon.[34]
H. i. ichneumon (Linnaeus, 1758) is the
nominate subspecies. The following zoological specimen were described between the late 18th century and the early 1930s as subspecies:[35]

In 1811,

genus Herpestes.[46]

Threats

A survey of poaching methods in Israel carried out in autumn 2000 revealed that the Egyptian mongoose is affected by snaring in agricultural areas. Most of the traps found were set up by Thai guest workers.[47] Numerous dried heads of Egyptian mongooses were found in 2007 at the Dantokpa Market in southern Benin, suggesting that it is used as fetish in animal rituals.[48]

Conservation

The Egyptian mongoose is listed on Appendix III of the Berne Convention, and Annex V of the European Union Habitats and Species Directive.[1] In Israel, wildlife is protected by law, and hunting allowed only with a permit.[47]

In culture

Ptolemaic Dynasty of Egypt
Bronze statue, Ptolemaic Dynasty
A Late period statue dedicated to the goddess Wadjet, exhibited in Walters Art Museum

excavated in the catacombs of Anubis at Saqqara during works started in 2009.[49]
At the cemetery of Beni Hasan, an Egyptian mongoose on a leash is depicted in the tomb of Baqet I dating to the Eleventh Dynasty of Egypt.[50] The American poet John Greenleaf Whittier wrote a poem as an elegy for an ichneumon, which had been brought to Haverhill Academy in Haverhill, Massachusetts, in 1830. The long lost poem was published in the November 1902 issue of "The Independent" magazine.[51] In Christopher Smart's poem, Jubilate Agno, the poet's cat Jeoffry was praised in line 63: "For he killed the Ichneumon-rat very pernicious by land," for a purported attack on an Egyptian mongoose.[citation needed] The Sherlock Holmes canon also features an ichneumon the short story The Adventure of the Crooked Man, though due to Watson's description of its appearance and its owner's history in India it is likely to actually be an Indian grey mongoose.[52]

See also

  • Ichneumon (In medieval zoology)

References

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  9. ^ Basuony, M.I. (2000). "Herpestes ichneumon ichneumon (Linnaeus, 1758)". Ecological Survey of Burullus Nature Protectorate. Mammals. Cairo: Nature Conservation Sector, Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency. p. 19.
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  34. ^ Linnaeus, Carl (1758). "Viverra ichneumon". Caroli Linnæi Systema naturæ per regna tria naturæ, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Vol. Tomus I (decima, reformata ed.). Holmiae: Laurentius Salvius. p. 41. (in Latin)
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  52. ^ Conan Doyle, Arthur (1893). The Adventure of the Crooked Man. A. L. Burt Company. "It's a mongoose," I cried. "Well, some call them that, and some call them ichneumon," said the man. "Snake-catcher is what I call them, and Teddy is amazing quick on cobras. I have one here without the fangs, and Teddy catches it every night to please the folk in the canteen.

External links

Wikispecies has information related to Herpestes ichneumon.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Herpestes ichneumon.
Wikisource has the text of The New Student's Reference Work article "Ichneumon".
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