The Egyptian mongoose or ichneumon (Herpestes ichneumon)
The Egyptian mongoose (Herpestes ichneumon), also known as ichneumon (/ɪkˈnjuːmən/), is a mongoose species native to the tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands of Africa and around the Mediterranean Basin in North Africa, the Middle East and the Iberian Peninsula. 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.
Description and habitat area
Herpestes ichneumon is a species of carnivorous mammal of the family Herpestidae. It is a small mammal and the only European species of its family.
Herpestes ichneumon is known as a sacred animal to the ancient Egyptians. Herodotus wrote that in all cities ichneumons were embalmed and buried in sacred places. The name ichneumon comes from the ancient Greek ἰχνεύμων, meaning "detective, tracker".
Herpestes ichneumon is an inhabitant of North Africa, Asia Minor and southern Europe (Spain, Dalmatia). Outside Africa, the Egyptian mongoose can be found in the Sinai Peninsula, southeastern Turkey, as well as in Israel and Lebanon. The adult Herpestes ichneumon is much larger than the domestic cat; it has a body length of 65 cm and a tail of 45 cm, but appears smaller than it really is due to its short legs. The body of Herpestes ichneumon is slender, but it is the largest of all mongooses; an adult animal weighs 7 and sometimes up to 9 kg. Its legs are short, its feet are barefoot and its toes are joined by a short webbing almost halfway down its body. Its long tail, due to the dense hairs covering it at the root, looks very thick, like an extension of its body, and ends in a tassel. The fur of Herpestes ichneumon consists of a dense undercoat of rusty yellow and long hairs 6-7 cm long.
Life history, nutrition and reproduction
Herpestes ichneumon prefers to live in dense vegetation in the vicinity of water bodies (rivers and swamps), also found in agricultural areas. Herpestes ichneumon only avoids dense forests and desert areas. In Egypt they live on densely populated riverbanks and in the reeds surrounding fields. Here Herpestes ichneumon forges narrow paths leading to deep but not particularly spacious burrows. There, the females give birth to two to four young after a gestation period of 49 to 84 days in spring or during the early summer months, which are suckled on their mother's milk for a long time and maintained by both parents for even longer. Herpestes ichneumon feeds on small mammals and birds, snakes, lizards, frogs, fish, insects, worms and crabs, but also on carrion and various fruits. Herpestes ichneumon are usually diurnal, but can sometimes also be found at night. These social animals live in pairs or in family groups.
Particularities
Alfred Brem writes about Herpestes ichneumon: "Its gait is particularly striking because of its peculiarity: the animal seems to crawl along the ground, as its short legs are completely covered with long hair, which makes its movements invisible. During the summer months, Herpestes ichneumon is rarely found alone, but always in the company of its companions. The male is usually in front, followed by the female, and the cubs follow the mother. In doing so, one member of the family stays so close to the other that the whole chain of animals seems to form a single creature, which can be compared to a very long snake.
From time to time, the head of the family stops and raises his head to make sure that he is safe, his nostrils flaring furiously and sniffing as if he is very short of air. When he is sure that there is nothing to fear, he goes further; at sight of prey, he begins to wriggle noiselessly among the stems like a snake to get as close as possible to it, and suddenly, in one or two leaps, he catches even a bird in flight. In front of a burrow it is able to watch with remarkable patience, waiting and creeping up on its prey with amused caution."
Taxonomy
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. Herpestes ichneumon ichneumon (Linnaeus, 1758) is the nominate subspecies. The following zoological specimen were described between the late 18th century and the early 1930s as subspecies:
- Viverra cafra (Gmelin, 1788) − based on a description of a specimen from the Cape of Good Hope.
- Herpestes ichneumon numidicus F. G. Cuvier, 1834 − two individuals from Algiers in Algeria kept in the menagerie of the Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle, France.
- Herpestes ichneumon widdringtonii Gray, 1842 − a specimen from Sierra Morena in Spain.
- Herpestes angolensis (Bocage, 1890) − a male specimen from Quissange in Angola.
- Mungos ichneumon parvidens (Lönnberg, 1908) − three specimens collected near the lower Congo River in Congo Free State.
- Mungos ichneumon funestus (Osgood, 1910) − a specimen from Naivasha in British East Africa.
- Mungos ichneumon centralis (Lönnberg, 1917) − two specimens from Beni, Democratic Republic of the Congo.
- Herpestes ichneumon sangronizi Cabrera, 1924 − a specimen from Mogador in Morocco.
- Herpestes caffer sabiensis (Roberts, 1926) − a specimen from Sabi Sand Game Reserve in Southern Africa.
- Herpestes cafer mababiensis (Roberts, 1932) − a specimen from Mababe in northern Bechuanaland.
In 1811, Johann Karl Wilhelm Illiger subsumed the ichneumon to the genus Herpestes.
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. 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.
Conservation
The Egyptian mongoose is listed on Appendix III of the Berne Convention, and Annex V of the European Union Habitats and Species Directive. In Israel, wildlife is protected by law, and hunting allowed only with a permit.
