Egyptian mongooses have been immortalized in Egyptian paintings going back to around 300 B.C. It was known as the "Pharaoh's Cat" and was considered a holy animal. They were housed in temples and were put as gladiators in arenas to dual with snakes. Skulls of these animals were found in tombs and also mummified remains have been discovered. Legend has it that before a snake hunt they rolled in mud several times and allowed each layer to dry, thus forming a protective shield. They were also the object of many myths because of their talent of "sneaking around" and robbing nests. Human children were the items kidnapped in these tales. Eventually, probably out of respect for their deceptiveness, these mongooses became sacred to the Egyptian people (Osborn, 1998; Minnesota State University, 2001).
Perception Channels: tactile ; chemical
With a wide distribution and high population, the Egyptian mongoose is in no trouble of becoming endangered. In fact, in most mongoose populations, they are the most abundant carnivores living in an area.
US Federal List: no special status
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: least concern
Along with controlling local pests, H. ichneumon is capable of killing harmless birds and mammals and other desirable wildlife. This has lead to the extinction and endangerment of some species. They are also a serious pest to chicken farmers. Egyptian mongooses have decimated enough species that the importation and possession of these mongooses is forbidden in some countries (Novak, 1991).
Member of this species are very well-known for their ability to catch creatures that are pests to humans. Egyptian mongooses are important in eliminating rats, mice, and especially snakes. They have been introduced to places in hopes of keeping local pest populations in check (Osborn, 1998).
Positive Impacts: controls pest population
Egyptian mongooses have a large impact on their prey populations, including snakes and rodents.
Meals consist of invertebrates, fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals. Sometimes, H. ichneumon even dines on fruit. Eggs are a favored delicacy. In fact, The Egyptian mongooses came by their scientific name because the animal was believed to track down crocodile eggs. Whether or not that is true is still unknown. Mongooses have an interesting way of eating eggs: they throw them through their hind legs against something hard like a rock or wall. Also, like their famous relatives, Small Indian Mongooses, Herpestes javanicus, which starred in Kipling's Rikki Tikki Tavi, Ichneumons have a reputation for snake killing. It is commonly believed that mongooses are immune to snake poisons, but this is not so. They are described as having "lightning-fast reflexes," and they erect all the hair on their bodies when on the attack. This is thought to confuse the reptile. With quick and skillful movement, they seize it from behind the head. They don't actually chase their prey but merely encounter it after continuous exploratory walking; then with one speedy strike, make the kill. They can defend themselves from snakes as well. Egyptian Mongooses have the ability to predict and dodge the strike of a snake attack and then catch the snakes head before another strike (Kingdon, 1977; Osborn, 1998).
These mongooses also hunt insects. They place their noses to the earth sniffing until they smell an insect and then they either snatch it up as the unsuspecting bug meanders along above ground or dig it out from below the dirt.
Animal Foods: birds; mammals; amphibians; reptiles; eggs; insects; terrestrial non-insect arthropods
Plant Foods: fruit
Primary Diet: carnivore (Eats terrestrial vertebrates, Insectivore )
Herpestes ichneumon is distributed in Spain, Portugal, Israel, and most of Africa except for central Zaire, the West African lowland forests and southeastern South Africa. It was introduced to Madagascar and Italy (Hinton and Dunn, 1967).
Biogeographic Regions: palearctic (Native ); ethiopian (Native )
Egyptian mongooses are ground inhabitants who prefer regions with trees near water. They hide and find shelter in burrows, hollow logs or trees, holes in the ground, and rock crevices, especially during the night. Today their habitat also includes cultivated fields and vegetated canal banks (Osborn, 1998).
Habitat Regions: temperate ; tropical ; terrestrial
One particular mongoose in captivity lived over 20 years, although that is rare. In the wild they live approximately 12 years (Novak, 1991).
Range lifespan
Status: captivity: 20 (high) years.
Average lifespan
Status: wild: 12 years.
Average lifespan
Status: captivity: 20.0 years.
Average lifespan
Status: wild: 12.0 years.
Egyptian mongooses are unassuming creatures with their long-haired, grey coats dotted with brownish speckles; sometimes, the coat is reddish brown with yellow speckles but this is infrequent. A narrow, naked strip of skin surrounds the eyes. Their slender body stands out in sharp contrast to the long, bushy tail, which ends in a black tassel. They have a long, low-slung form which appears reptilian from a distance. The body length is 48 to 60 cm with the tail measuring 33 to 54 cm. They have a long face, small rounded ears which don't project above the head, short legs with five digits on each limb, hind feet which are naked to the heel and foreclaws that are sharp and curved for digging. Another very important feature is the existence of large anal sac containing two glandular openings. These animals have 35 to 40 teeth of which the carnassal are well developed for sheering flesh. If excited, H. ichneumon can bristle its hair and arch its back to appear two times its actual size.
Range mass: 1.7 to 4 kg.
Range length: 48 to 60 cm.
Other Physical Features: endothermic ; homoiothermic; bilateral symmetry
Sexual Dimorphism: sexes alike
Gerti Ducker described a period of foreplay before the animals mate. Mating lasts for almost five minutes. During this time, the male knocks the female's neck with his mouth wide open. The male always pursues the female. He makes a noise which the female then repeats. The females then squats and runs, this seduces the male (Hinton and Dunn, 1967).
Egyptian mongooses reach sexual maturity at around 2 years of age. When ready to mate the female's vulva becomes swollen and red. Females can actually come into heat shortly after giving birth--as little as ten days. While giving birth, females stand up with their legs slightly bent. Gestation is approximately 11 weeks and litters range from 2 to 4 young which are born in July or August in Spain (Hinton and Dunn, 1967).
Range number of offspring: 2 to 4.
Average gestation period: 1-2 months.
Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female): 2 years.
Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male): 2 years.
Key Reproductive Features: iteroparous ; gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); sexual ; fertilization ; viviparous
Average gestation period: 74 days.
Average number of offspring: 3.
Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male)
Sex: male: 730 days.
Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female)
Sex: female: 730 days.
At birth, Egyptian mongooses are blind and have fur. Around 6 to 8 weeks they first open their eyes (Hayssen, 1993).
Parental Investment: altricial ; pre-fertilization (Provisioning, Protecting: Female); pre-hatching/birth (Provisioning: Female, Protecting: Female); pre-weaning/fledging (Provisioning: Female, Protecting: Female)
Localized (Nile Delta and environs).
Native, resident.
The Egyptian mongoose (Herpestes ichneumon), also known as ichneumon (/ɪkˈnjuːmən/),[2] is a mongoose species native to the coastal regions along the Mediterranean Sea between North Africa and Turkey, tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands in Africa. Whether it is introduced or native to the Iberian Peninsula is in some doubt. Because of its widespread occurrence, it is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.[1]
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]
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 Portugal from north of the Douro River to the south, and in Spain from the central plateau, 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 Syria, it was observed in the Latakia Governorate between 1989 and 1995; 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 Rahad River and in Dinder National Park.[13] It was also recorded in the Dinder–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 Senegal, it was observed in 2000 in Niokolo-Koba National Park, which mainly encompasses open habitat dominated by 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]
Several hypotheses were proposed to explain the occurrence of the Egyptian mongoose in the Iberian Peninsula:
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 rodents, fish, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and 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 radio-tracked in 1985 and their 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 giant pouched rats (Cricetomys), Temminck's mouse (Mus musculoides), Tullberg's soft-furred mouse (Praomys tulbergi), Nigerian shrew (Crocidura nigeriae), 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]
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]
In 1758, Carl Linnaeus described an Egyptian mongoose from the area of the Nile River in Egypt in his work Systema Naturae and gave it the 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, Johann Karl Wilhelm Illiger subsumed the ichneumon to the genus Herpestes.[46]
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]
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]
Mummified remains of four Egyptian mongooses were 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. 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]
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