8-3-2023 BIOPARC, VALENCIA - BANDED MONGOOSE (Mungos mungo)

https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/41921-Mungos-mungo

7-4-2021 BIOPARC, VALENCIA - BANDED MONGOOSE (Mungos mungo)

https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/41921-Mungos-mungo

 

19-4-2018 CHOBE NATIONAL PARK, BOTSWANA - BANDED MONGOOSE (Mungos mungo)

The Banded mongoose (Mungos mungo) is a mongoose species native from the Sahel to Southern Africa. While most mongoose species live solitary lives, the Banded mongoose lives in colonies with a complex social structure and forages in groups.

The Banded mongoose is a sturdy mongoose with a large head, small ears, short, muscular limbs, and a long tail, almost as long as the rest of the body. Animals of wetter areas are larger and darker colored than animals in dryer regions. The abdominal part of the body is higher and rounder than the breast area. The rough fur is grayish brown and black, and there are several dark brown to black horizontal bars across the back. The limbs and snout are darker, while the underparts are lighter than the rest of the body. Banded mongooses have long strong claws that allow them to dig in the soil. The nose color of banded mongoose varies from gray-brown to orange-red.

The Banded mongoose lives in sub-Saharan Africa as far north as Somalia and Sudan. Although it does occur in Gambia and Senegal, it is generally considered as rare in West Africa. It occupies a variety of habitats, including brush-land and grassland, but prefers wooded areas. It is not found in drier areas, such as semi-desert and desert habitats.

The Banded mongoose is gregarious and diurnal, living in packs with 10 to 20 members. Packs usually remain together in a group in the same area, but forage individually. They may hunt together to kill larger prey, such as sand snakes. Their home range can measure 0.8 to 4 sq km, and they prefer to use an old termite mound as a den. A pack’s social organization seems to be matriarchal. Packs care for their young and also look after invalids and elderly, for example, by warning them about danger, grooming them, and giving them access to food. These animals are somewhat nomadic and will not inhabit one particular sheltering area or den for long, usually no more than several days or weeks. At a preferred location they may remain a little longer, and often will return to a favorite shelter site or den to re-use it repeatedly.

12-4-2018 VICTORIA FALLS, ZIMBABWE - BANDED MONGOOSE (Mungos mungo)

The banded mongoose (Mungos mungo) is a mongoose species native from the Sahel to Southern Africa. It lives in savannas, open forests and grasslands and feeds primarily on beetles and millipedes. Mongooses use various types of dens for shelter including termite mounds. While most mongoose species live solitary lives, the banded mongoose live in colonies with a complex social structure.

The banded mongoose is a sturdy mongoose with a large head, small ears, short, muscular limbs and a long tail, almost as long as the rest of the body. Animals of wetter areas are larger and darker colored than animals of dryer regions. The abdominal part of the body is higher and rounder than the breast area. The rough fur is grayish brown and black, and there are several dark brown to black horizontal bars across the back. The limbs and snout are darker, while the underparts are lighter than the rest of the body. Banded mongooses have long strong claws that allow them to dig in the soil. The nose color of banded mongoose varies from gray-brown to orange-red.

An adult animal can reach a length of 30 to 45 cm and a weight of 1.5 to 2.25 kg. The tail is 15 to 30 cm long.

The banded mongoose is found in a large part of East, Southeast and South-Central Africa. There are also populations in the northern savannas of West Africa. The banded mongoose lives in savannas, open forests and grassland, especially near water, but also in dry, thorny bushland but not deserts. The species uses various types of dens for shelter, most commonly termite mounds. They will also live in rock shelters, thickets, gullies, and warrens under bushes. Mongooses prefer multi-entranced termitaria with open thicket, averaging 4 m from the nearest shelter, located in semi-closed woodland. In contrast to the den of the dwarf mongoose, banded mongoose dens are less dependent on vegetation cover and have more entrances. Banded mongooses live in larger groups than dwarf mongooses and thus more entrances means more members have access to the den and ventilation. The development of agriculture in the continent has had a positive influence on the number of banded mongooses. The crops of the farmland serve as an extra food source.

The banded mongoose lives in many of Africa's protected areas. The Serengeti of Tanzania, has a density of around three mongooses per km2. In southern KwaZulu-Natal, mongoose numbers are at a similar density at 2.4 km2. Queen Elizabeth National Park has much higher mongoose densities at 18/km2.

Banded mongooses live in mixed-sex groups of 5–75 individuals with an average of around 20 individuals. Groups sleep together at night in underground dens, often abandoned termite mounds, and change dens frequently (every 2–3 days). When no refuge is available and hard-pressed by predators such as African wild dogs, the group will form a compact arrangement in which they lie on each other with heads facing outwards and upwards. There is generally no strict hierarchy in mongoose groups. Most aggression and hierarchical behavior occurs between males when females are in oestrus. Males will mate-guard females in the group and attempt to control reproduction, but this practice is only minimally successful, with females tending to work against the mate-guarding male by proactively securing extra-pair copulations. Older females have earlier estrous periods and have larger litters. Older females are more desirable for males and will be the first females mate-guarded. When groups get too large, some females are forced out of the group by either older females or males. These females may form new groups with subordinate males. Relations between groups are highly aggressive and mongooses are sometimes killed and injured during intergroup encounters. Nevertheless, breeding females will often mate with males from a rival groups during fights (extra-group copulations). Mongooses establish their territories with scent markings that may also serve as communication between those in the same group.

Banded mongooses feed primarily on insects, myriapods, small reptiles, and birds. Millipedes and beetles make up most of their diet, but they also commonly eat ants, crickets, termites, grasshoppers, caterpillars, earwigs and snails. Other prey items of the mongoose includes mice, rats, frogs, lizards, small snakes, ground birds and the eggs of both birds and reptiles. It will also eat vegetable matter in the form of wild fruits. On some occasions, mongooses will drink water from rain pools and lake shores.

Banded mongoose forage in groups, but each member searches for food alone; however they work as a team when dealing with venomous snakes such as cobras. They forage in the morning for several hours and then rest in the shade. They will usually forage again in the late afternoon. Mongooses use their sense of smell to locate their prey and dig them out with their long claws, both in holes in the ground and holes in trees. Mongoose will also frequent the dung of large herbivores since it attracts beetles. Low grunts are produced every few seconds for communication. When hunting prey that secrete toxins, mongooses will roll them on the ground. Durable prey is thrown on hard surfaces.