E. Afr. Wildl. J. 8: 63-71 (1970) THE BANDED MONGOOSE, MUNGOS MUNGO GMELIN Ernest Neal SUMMARY The banded mongoose is a social, diurnal, medium-sized carnivore classified in the family Viverridae. Packs of up to 32 animals were found to occupy a single, old termite mound for periods in excess of 2 months. Nine out of ten dens were in termite mounds, the other was in a gully. One den was excavated to show structure. The whole pack occupied the central chamber each night. Oneygroup of 32 consisted of 17 adults, 7 juveniles, and 8 babies too small to leave the den with the pack during the day. The animals were strictly diurnal, usually leaving the den about one hour after dawn; time of return was more variable, but was usually during the hour before dark. Senses of sight, smell and hearing were found to be very acute. During the day the packs covered large distances, foraging as they went. During the period of study, food (estimated by dung analysis) consisted almost entirely of Coleoptera (mainly dung beetles) and millipedes. The packs followed the trails of elephant and buffalo and obtained most of their food from their dung. Detailed behaviour is described. Mating was seen on three occasions and two males were seen to copulate with the same female. Family size was not determined, but eight young were seen to be suckled by three females indiscriminately. One mother looked after all eight young during the day when the pack was away. The animals used communal defaecating areas on and around the den, the faeces being scattered over the surface of the ground. Reactions to various animals, including predators, are described. When caught in the open the pack tended to bunch together acting as a single unit. If bushes were near they used them for shelter. Adaptations are discussed. INTRODUCTION The banded mongoose was studied over a period of nearly 4 months (late December- early April 1969) in Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda, under the auspices of the Nuffield Unit of Tropical Animal Ecology. References to the behaviour and ecology of this species in the literature are very scarce and contain little information, but the few that do exist are summarised by Hinton and Dunn (1967). METHODS Dens were found by getting four or five people to walk in line abreast across likely country examining each termite mound for holes of about 15 cm in diameter, and above all for large collections of dung containing beetle and millipede remains. Large collections of dung were always found near a den. This method was found to be most effective when a pack had been seen in that area between 0800 and 0900 h or after 1830 h. 63
Transcript
E. Afr. Wildl. J . 8: 63-71 (1970)
THE BANDED MONGOOSE, MUNGOS MUNGO GMELIN
Ernest Neal
SUMMARY
The banded mongoose is a social, diurnal, medium-sized carnivore classified in the family Viverridae.
Packs of up to 32 animals were found to occupy a single, old termite mound for periods in excess of 2 months. Nine out of ten dens were in termite mounds, the other was in a gully. One den was excavated to show structure. The whole pack occupied the central chamber each night.
Oneygroup of 32 consisted of 17 adults, 7 juveniles, and 8 babies too small to leave the den with the pack during the day.
The animals were strictly diurnal, usually leaving the den about one hour after dawn; time of return was more variable, but was usually during the hour before dark.
Senses of sight, smell and hearing were found to be very acute. During the day the packs covered large distances, foraging as they went. During the
period of study, food (estimated by dung analysis) consisted almost entirely of Coleoptera (mainly dung beetles) and millipedes. The packs followed the trails of elephant and buffalo and obtained most of their food from their dung. Detailed behaviour is described.
Mating was seen on three occasions and two males were seen to copulate with the same female. Family size was not determined, but eight young were seen to be suckled by three females indiscriminately. One mother looked after all eight young during the day when the pack was away.
The animals used communal defaecating areas on and around the den, the faeces being scattered over the surface of the ground.
Reactions to various animals, including predators, are described. When caught in the open the pack tended to bunch together acting as a single unit. If bushes were near they used them for shelter.
Adaptations are discussed.
INTRODUCTION
The banded mongoose was studied over a period of nearly 4 months (late December- early April 1969) in Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda, under the auspices of the Nuffield Unit of Tropical Animal Ecology.
References to the behaviour and ecology of this species in the literature are very scarce and contain little information, but the few that do exist are summarised by Hinton and Dunn (1967).
METHODS Dens were found by getting four or five
people to walk in line abreast across likely country examining each termite mound for holes of about 15 cm in diameter, and above all for large collections of dung containing beetle and millipede remains. Large collections of dung were always found near a den. This method was found to be most effective when a pack had been seen in that area between 0800 and 0900 h or after 1830 h.
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The animals are nearly always near their dens at these times.
Searching for foraging packs during the day was done by Land Rover but the vehicle disturbed them considerably and better observations were made when on foot.
Behaviour at or near the den was observed either through binoculars from an opposite hillside to see the general pattern of events when leaving or returning, or from nearer for more detailed observations. In some cases both methods were used simultaneously by two observers. Viewing from 30 m from a vehicle or papyrus hide caused too much disturbance for regular observations, but the use of bushes as a natural hide was most successful when the wind was right.
Limited dung analysis was carried out. The dung was first soaked andthen sieved under running water and the residue put in water for examination.
DESCRIPTION The banded mongoose is a most attrac-
tive species. The adults reach a length of about 60 cm including a 20-25 cm tail. They are gregarious, and in opencountry look like a pack of miniature otters in the wrong habitat with heads near the ground, their hindquarters curiously humped, and their tails tapering.
The general colour is dark brown, but the shoulders are often grizzled grey. The top of the head is dark, almost black in some, but the lower half of the head is much lighter brown. The eyes are small, dark and beady and the ears rounded and close to the body. Only the hind-part of the body is banded, the pattern being due to alternate darker and lighter bands which seem to go in and out like a concertina as the animals hunch themselves up or stretch. The legs are nearly black. An adult weighs 1.8-2.2 kg.
The den Of the ten dens found, nine were in old
termite mounds which had been excavated by the mongooses; the other consisted of burrows dug into an erosion gully. Five of the dens were in current use and five were old.
It has been stated (Heller, 1911) that a pack seldom uses a den for more than a
few nights at a time, but in my experience this was far from the case. Of three dens known to be used for breeding, Den 1 was occupied for more than 2 months, Den 2 for over 1 month and Den 3 was still in occupation (after 6 weeks) when I left. It is also probable that the packs in the first two dens left because we disturbed them too much.
It is of course possible that this species may use more temporary places when breed- ing is not taking place, but no evidence for this was obtained.
Choice of site All of the dens examined had bushy
vegetation either on the mound or very near to it-the mounds were never bare isolated ones in grassy places. They were not in areas where large game animals could rub against them or trample on them. The countryside chosen for nine of the ten sites was on a slope where good viewpoints could be obtained for some distance. The area always had a lot of cover nearby in the form of bushes which occupied at least a third of the immediate surrounding area. All dens were within 300 m of either the Kazinga Channel or Lake Edward and eight out of ten were within 75 m of a good water supply.
Structure of den One breeding den (Den l), which had been
deserted for a month, was excavated. It was situated in an old termite mound with three entrances leading to tunnels 9.25 cm in diameter which led distances of 210 cm, 135 cm, and 150 cm respectively to a central chamber 150x90 cm in area and 50 cm high at the centre. There were two side tunnels ending in enlarged chambers big enough to house one or two animals or a family. No bedding was present and the floor was smooth and covered with broken fragments of millipede cuticle from the dung. Most of the dung was deposited outside the mound, but there were numbers of scats in two of the tunnels and in a side chamber. No termites were present, but there was a nest of a species of large ant in a separate region above the main chamber. Cocoons of these ants were found in the dung of the occupying mongooses.
The number of entrances varied from den
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to den, but three was the minimum noted. In Den 2, there were seven holes of which five were constantly used, but usually there were preferred entrances. Holes too small for entrance communicated with the interior and no doubt helped ventilation, but it is likely that these were originally built by termites.
THE SOCIAL UNIT Hinton and Dunn (1967) state that fully-
grown male mongooses are larger than fully- grown females and, in Den 1 , one particularly large animal was seen and assumed to be a male. Sexing in the field was not easy but in some positions and attitudes this was possible, and in some cases their behaviour made it obvious, as when pairing or suckling. The females appeared in the field tohave slightly narrower faces when seen head on, but this may have been an illusion. Coloration of the sexes was similar.
The largest number of individuals present in one den was 32 (Den 2) of which 17 were adults, 7 half-grown juveniles, and 8 young too small to leave the den when counted. Twenty-three were living in Den 1 and 21 in Den 3. Both the other dens watched consistently contained juveniles, and one of them had very young ones just capable of going with the pack during the day (Plate la). The number in the den was not necessarily the same as in the foraging packs. Evidence was obtained on one occasion of the occu- pants of Den 2 going off in two separate units and all returning in the evening. However, in the field at least three packs had over 20 individuals for certain and, as it is often difficult to count all the animals due to the bushes and long grass, it is likely that many more of the packs seen were of this order.
THE SENSES Observations in the field suggested that
sight was extremely good for distances up to 30 m and probably beyond that. The presence of a papyrus hide set up near a den at 30 m was detected immediately when they returned even though it was downwind from them. Any movement within 20 m was seen at once and the animal immediately stood up in order to investigate further (Plate 2a). Hearing was also acute. The mongooses could hear the click of a caniera shutter at
30 m and when game approached they stood up at the slightest sound and looked in the direction of the sound. The sense of smell also appeared to be very good. If the wind was blowing towards them, they were immediately aware of my presence at 30 m although I was hidden. The same applied to emergence in the morning; if the wind was only slightly wrong, each animal on appearing would move its head repeatedly up and down-a characteristic scenting attitude.
It is likely that the sense of smell is used to discover prey underground as mongooses were seen digging in earth where there was no visible clue. It is just possible that they can hear underground movements but the use of scent seems more likely. As is typical of viverrids, the banded mongoose possesses scent glands under the tail and these are used for marking. The dens have a pungent musky odour which can be detected several yards away, but this may be due to some extent to the dung scattered in the vicinity. However the scent of the dung itself is probably due in part to the secretion of the scent glands.
It was noticed that if the pack became separated in the long grass because of disturbances, the animals ran into the nearest bushes. After a time they emerged and re- formed. If an animal got left behind as a result of the disturbance, it followed the intricate path of one that had gone before and at intervals would stand up like a stoat and look all around. The following could only have been by scent left by another, but the standing up suggested that sight and hearing might also be used.
When moving in the pack, the mongooses uttered continued “urr-urrr” noises-low- pitched murmurings in the form of a short pulse of similar notes which appeared to act as contact sounds. This was very evident when I was watching them. They knew I was there and were very alert, but also extremely curious. On one occasion, an adult stood up within 5 m of where I was watching from inside a bush and continually made this urgent “urrr-urrr” noise, and the rest of the pack nearby replied. On the same occa- sion, when frightened by the click of the camera, they all uttered the same note together but more urgently, producing a sudden explo- sive noise before they all rushed into the bushes. This same noise was heard when two observers approached from opposite ’
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sides of a bush in which a pack had sheltered. There was the explosive note of warning and fear and then, on running out of the bush, each animal made its individual “urrr-urn” noises.
FOOD AND FEEDING BEHAVIOUR The food, as determined by dung analysis
between January and March inclusively, contained remarkably few items. By far the most abundant food eaten was coleopterous, the beetle species present varying consider- ably but including many dung beetles. Also very common as food were large milli- pedes, the skeletal segments of which showed up in every dung sample examined. The cocoons of a species of large ant were also consumed, but the contents were nearly always entirely digested. No mammalian hair or reptilian scales were seen in the dung analysed and there were no vegetable remains of any consequence.
It cannot be emphasized too much how dependent banded mongooses are on the bigger game animals, especially elephant (Loxodontu ufricuna (Blumenbach)) and buffalo (Syncerus cufler (Sparrman)). These provide considerable amounts of dung which attract both beetles and millipedes. The cuticles of these animals accounted for over 50% of the dry weight of the dung samples. The foraging behaviour of mongooses pro- vided additional evidence. Elephant dung appeared to be more important than buffalo on observational evidence obtained,
Beetles when disturbed in dung rapidly try to bury themselves in cracks or the moist earth underneath, but a mongoose will quickly dig them up with the claws of its front feet.
The main occupation during the day was feeding. When the pack finally made off in the morning the animals all started foraging and whenever a pack was seen during the day they were always looking for food. The typical behaviour when undisturbed was to fan out over the area looking all round them for possible food, investigating each piece of dung left by elephant or buffalo especially, and tearing it to pieces with the front paws, picking out prey with the mouth. In this way the whole pack travelled slowly in a definite direction with each individual investigating any likely habitat for prey within its compass. Young animals tended to keep near their mothers, judging from instances observed near the den on leaving and returning. The members of the pack kept within easy seeing or hearing distance of each other and at the slightest alarm tended to bunch or go in a line. This was evident on crossing a road when most of the pack followed each other in a linear manner.
DAILY ACTIVITY
In the morning (Table 1) The average time of first emergence on
eight occasions was 08OC h which was about 1 h after dawn (range 0720-0815).
When the pack was completely unsuspi- cious, the first sign of life was a head at one of the entrances. The mongoose would remain there for a moment or so and then twist itself half out of the hole. It could be seen scenting and, if there was anything to worry it, it would move its head up and down repeatedly, scenting as it did so. On one occasion, four or five were doing this at the same time. If the wind carried any strange
Date Den
5 February 1 12 February 1
13 February 1 20 February 1 21 February 1
6 March 2 20 Mar 2 14 Mar 3
TABLE 1 Morning activity
Time of first Time of pack Viewpoint emergence departure
Unsuspicious Unsuspicious Very suspicious of hide near den. Unsuspicious Unsuspicious Unsuspicious
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scent and they continued to be suspicious, they would go in again and try later. When impatient to leave, one would do a trial run by coming out of one hole and running across the mound before going down another. This was repeated several times before it was confident enough to leave the security of the den. If no danger was suspected, the first animal would come out, climb up the mound and possibly sit on the top; another would follow and over the next few minutes the whole pack would emerge (Plate lb). Some would yawn, others lie down and perhaps groom, whilst others would go to the defaecation area. Behaviour was very variable after this; if suspicious the animals would go off almost at once, but otherwise departure times varied from 10-68 min after emergence. On leaving the den they usually left the area, foraging as they went, but occasionally they went only 18-45 m before resting on a bare area where there was considerable play among the juveniles.
On finally leaving the area as a pack, the mongooses presumably spent the next few hours foraging. No pack was kept in view for long periods, but various foraging
packs were met at different times of day. The great majority of sightings (23 out of 33) were between 0915 and 1130 h. Three were between 1130 and 1330, 1 in the late after- noon and 6 in the early evening between 1700 and 1830. Not much can be gathered from these data exept that the animals were obviously active during the morning and early evening. It seems likely that the early afternoon is a period of less activity, but less time was spent during this period in searching for mongooses.
In the evening (Table 2) Times of return to the den were again
variable, ranging from 13 h before dark to just after dark, but the time of actually retiring into the den was remarkably regular at 1935 h f 5 min (17 out of 21 times).
Much variation in behaviour occurred, some of which appeared to be correlated with (a) time of arrival in the vicinity of the den; (b) the presence of babies inthe den; (c) the tiredness of the individual after a day’s foraging; (d) suspicion; (e) the weather. Some of these factors were, of course, interrelated.
Date
4 February 8 February
10 February 11 February 14 February 18 February 20 February 21 February
27 February 3 March 7 March 8 March 9 March
10 March 15 March 18 March 1 1 March 12 March 13 March 18 March 24 March 25 March
Low tght intensity Dark and thundery Had been very suspi- cious of hide that morning
Heavy rain and dark
Unsuspicious ,9
,. 1, ..
Note. There were no babies at Den 3, but there were at Den 2.
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(a) Their behaviour when the mongooses returned early is typified by events on 20th February at Den 1. They came back slowly, foraging on the way. On reaching a bare area by some tree or bush within 20 yd of the den, they flopped down and rested. There was grooming and some play between the younger animals. Others stretched them- selves full-length on their bellies with front legs forward and hind legs stretched back- wards. At about 1915 h when the light was beginning to go, they made a move towards the den and flopped down again. Some sprawled on the top and sides of the mound, others clustered in a mass at its foot. As it got darker, a few became restless and made towards the entrances until there was a cluster of animals round each hole. At 1930 they started to go in and by 1935 when almost too dark to see, the last one, an adult, retired.
(b) If young were in the den the pack usually returned early, but the majority would not approach the den at first. This group consisted of adult males and females, and their behaviour was usually as described under (a). However, the mothers of the young went at once to the den and suckled their offspring either on or very near one entrance down which they could bolt at any alarm, The mothers were accompanied by juveniles which by their behaviour appeared to be the young of the previous litter, e.g. they sometimes attempted to suckle too, but without success. The main group of adults returned as usual to the mound at about 1915 h.
(c) Whenever the pack returned late, the animals appeared to be extremely tired. A late return was often correlated with hot dry weather. One pack at Den 1 got to within 50 m of the den where they lay down and apparently went to sleep; a little later they made another move and lay down again. On reaching the den they went into a huddle and went to sleep once more, except for the odd individual grooming itself or making a slight movement. There was no play of any kind.
(d) When suspicious they remained away from the den until the last moment,coming in with a rush when it was nearly dark. One day a papyrus hide was erected near Den 1 while the pack was away but on returning in the evening the animals saw it at once and were very suspicious. The next
morning they emerged late and each looked straight at the hide before going off. The following night they did not return until it was nearly dark; they approached very slowly and remained hidden by bushes until 1932 h when they were seen moving rapidly head to tail like a large black snake towards the den. Most of them went in at once, but a few remained near the entrances for a few more minutes.
(e) The effect of low light intensity and torrential rain caused them to return to the den early and retire inside.
RANGE OF ACTIVITY This was not accurately assessed as no
marking techniques were used. It appeared, however, that definite feeding areas were used by different packs. At Katunguru two packs were observed over several weeks. The dens were only about 400 m apart,but they were separated by a creek containing water. Whenever the packs were observed homing they always came from their parti- cular side of the creek as if the latter was the edge of their feeding territory.
It was known that two and possibly three different packs foraged over the peninsular area at Mweya, although no occupied dens were found in spite of systematic search over the area on foot and by Land Rover.
PLAY This was seen to occur much more in the
evening especially when the mongooses returned early and were not too tired. It was mainly between juveniles, apart from play of a sexual pattern prior to mating. Play was also very evident among the young which were nearly old enough to go with the pack.
At Den 2, play was first noticeable when the young, of which there were eight, were old enough to come out of the den and creep about it. This was an exploratory stage and they kept in close contact which seemed to stimulate play between them. They would climb, slip, turn somersaults and jockey each other for position and this would initiate simple play patterns. They also played with the mother, climbing over and under her, and she would move off with several on her back until they usually dropped off. They would bite at each others’
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tails probably because these moved within the line of vision.
Towards the end of the period prior to going off with the pack, play became very vigorous and the animals were amazingly versatile. Play would be accompanied by sharp little “urr-urr” noises and included somersaults after which they would jump high in the air, twisting as they jumped: they also leapt over eachother and chased one another in tight circles. Two would wrestle together, locked loosely by their open mouths. They would go for the fur on each others’ necks and be flung off by a quick sideways movement of the head. Generally speaking it was mock-fighting play.
REPRODUCTION It is unlikely from observations made
between late December and early April that there is a particular season for re- production because during each of those months very young animals were seen with the pack and several sizes of immature animals were present in the same pack. Mating was also observed on 3rd and 20th March which, if fertile, would extend the period when young animals ran with the pack to the month of May and possibly June (gestation period is not known). However, it remains to be seen whether there are peaks for reproduction during the year.
It is stated in the literature (Hinton and Dunn, 1967) that most species of mongoose have two litters a year. From our observations this seems to be likely for banded mongooses as one mother suckling a litter was constantly attended by another young animal which was several months older than the current brood. It tried unsuccessfully to suckle and remained with the mother when most of the pack had gone off, but accompanied her when she finally departed.This could well have been a juvenile from her previous litter, but of course no proof was available.
The number of young per litter was not established with certainty, but in Den 2 there were eight young of roughly the same size being suckled by three mothers, and in Den 1 there were three young of the same size but suckling was not observed. Litter numbers were difficult to estimate as suckling was shared between any animals which were lactating. In Den 2, suckling was seen on many occasions. During the day one
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mother remained at the den while the pack went off (Plate 2b) and she was seen to suckle for short periods during the afternoon, but at 1810 h she suckled three young for 6 min on end. When the pack returned at 1835 two females were greeted by the young and at once they too started to suckle. This continued on and off for at least 10 min.
When a mother suckled she usually stood with her front legs stiff and slightly apart. The young crawled under her from the side or between her front legs. It was not unusual for a young one to lie on its back as it sucked. When three mothers were suckling at once there was a good deal of coming and going of the young and it was clear that they were not attached to any one mother.
When the young were nearly big enough to go with the pack they were very active by the den. They played together vigorously and would keep climbing over the mother and climbing onto her back when she moved. At the slightest alarm they would bolt for an entrance and disappear, only to appear again a moment or so later. The mother would sometimes get them by the scruff, shake them and push them down a hole, but undeterred they would soon emerge again. On the final day before they all went off with the pack two out of the three mothers remained behind to look after them; pre- viously only one had done so.
It was not established how long the period was between time of birth and the time when the young were big enough to leave with the pack for the day. However, their sizeon the day they left was approximately 14 cm long, including a 3.5 cm tail (estimated from photographs including an entrance of known diameter). At this stage, they were uniformly dark brown and showed no sign of the banding.
A careful watch was kept to see if the young and their mothers returned early during their first day out, but they were not seen and it was assumed they were with the pack all day. It seemed surprising that they were able to keep with the pack for such a long period, but there is no doubt from their behaviour the previous day that they were very strong and active. Their play had been vigorous and they would twist and turn and jump strongly; the mother had difficulty in controlling them.
THE BANDED MONGOOSE
Mating was seen first on 3rd March. The pack at Den 2 returned to the area of the mound early but did not go directly to it. Instead they played for some time about 30 m away. There was muchplay between juveniles, and then adults were also seen playing together. This included much chasing and the standing up of two animals facing each other as if sparring together. One would then chase the other in tight circles and this led to mating for perhaps 1 min. They then separated and another chase took place and mating occurred again. This pattern was repeated three or four times, the last mating being for nearly 10 min. The position was dog-like, the male grasping the female round the middle of her body but finally bringing his front legs nearer to her hind legs. There was no neck biting, but the male kept touching her neck with his open mouth. Another male was watching all the time and mounted the same female for a prolonged mating after the first male had stopped, so it appears that they are promiscuous. It is likely that during a series of mountings only the last and pro- longed one is effective.
On 20th March mating was observed from lorn. This happened in the morning after the pack had left the den. The pack remained for nearly 1 h quite near the bush which served as my hide. Most of the pack then dispersed, foraging as they went, but three adults remained behind and one mounted another while the third sat nearby. There was little chasing, and the female kept her hindquarters near the ground which made effective mating unlikely, but they kept paired for about 3 min before following the rest of the pack.
TOILET BEHAVIOUR
Defaecation was seen to occur as a regular thing in the morning after emergence from the den. Each animal would climb on to the top of the den or go to a bare place or mound nearby and defaecate. They were not observed to defaecate on returning in the evening. They dug no holes, nor scratched the ground, and the dung was scattered over a wide area near the den, but great concentrations were found in certain favourite places. The whole colony used the same area for weeks on end. The droppings were very easily recognised as those of banded
mongoose by their concentration in one place and the obvious presence of millipede and beetle remains in them. The finding of droppings was a good clue to the whereabouts of the den; however several areas were discovered where there were concentrations of fresh dung on a much smaller scale and these were not near any den that could be discovered. It is likely that these werein feeding areas and were used by day by the pack during its travels.
Grooming occurred commonly near the den. Scratching of the fur with a hind leg as in dogs was seen many times, the front paws being used very little except for cleaning the face. The mongooses would also lick their fur, but I saw no sign of them licking their paws to clean their face as in cats.
Mutual grooming between adults was noticed when they were lying in a close group on returning in the evening.
The mothers groomed the young constant- ly. The young animal lay down or was placed so that it was lying flat on the ground with its head almost under the mother’s head. It was then licked repeatedly from behind the head right down the body to the tail. It was also turned over so that its ventral side could be cleaned too. This was most evident after bouts of suckling in the early evening.
REACTION TO PREDATORS AND OTHER ANIMALS
This was noted on a number of occasions. Fish eagles (Cuncuma vocifer Daudin) were common and if one flew over the den when mongooses were there the usual reaction was for several of them to standstraightup while others remained on all fours but with the front part of the body raised. They watched the eagle until it had passed over, but if it swooped nearer they dashed for cover or into the den. If caught in the open away from the den they all bunched together. The latter is an effective defence as presum- ably a lot of small animals would appear to a predator like one much larger one, and the combined biting power would be considerable against all but the largest animals.
A spitting cobra (Naja nigricollis Rein- hardt) was observed approaching a den occupied by young in the late afternoon.
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There were several adults on the mound at the time. The snake purposefully searched the mound, but it was at once seen by an adult which approached slowly and cauti- ously. When the mongoose was about 60 cm from the snake, the cobra turned round and slithered away. Presumably it would have had no chance at all if it had put its head down one of the entrances as it could not have turned round to strike.
Reaction to other animals was noted. Waterbuck (Kobus d e f a m (Rupell)) ap- proaching the den were watched most carefully, and when they got too near the mongooses went to cover, but a hippo (Hippopotamus amphibius L.) was allowed to approach within 1 m of a mongoose before it stepped to one side. This animal was from a den on the edge of the Kazinga Channel just beside a path which hippos constantly used.
On another occasion, a pack of mongooses was slowly making its way along a hillside towards the den in the evening when some vervet monkeys (Cercopithecus aethiops L.) appeared in the grass along their route. The mongooses approached cautiously, but steadily, until they were within a few metres of the vervets which then turned round and fled.
Elephant feeding nearby caused the mongooses to go into the bushes. They could, of course, do considerable damage to a mound by stamping on it, but usually the den chosen was in a position where this was unlikely to occur.
CONCLUSIONS
Compared with the other species of mongoose found in Queen Elizabeth National Park, the great grey (Herpestes ichneumon L.), the black-tipped (Herpestes sanguineus
Ruppell), the white-tailed (Zchneumia alhi- cauda Cuvier) and the marsh (Atilax paludi- nosus Cuvier), the banded mongoose is well adapted as a diurnal, mainly insectivorous carnivore living in bushy savannah. Hunting by pack seems to be a diurnal adaptation. There is safety in numbers if caught inthe open by a potential predator. The bunching together that occurs on these occasions is clearly an effective defence. Because the food consists of small animals, large distances may have to be covered to find enough. Foraging by pack is most effective when following the dung trails of the big herbivores and the potential food supply of beetles and millipedes is well exploited in consequence.
The reproductive behaviour is also corre- lated with social life. When the pack is large it is likely that several females will have litters over the same period, and the young can be protected in the den by a single mother while the pack is away feeding. In addition, the fact that any infant can be suckled by any lactating female is another instance of division of labour within the social group, which would appear to have an important survival value.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to record my sincere thanks to Dr.
Keith Eltringham, Director of N.U.T.A.E., for much help and advice; to my wife who shared the field work on most occasions and was invaluable, and to the Royal Society for financial help.
REFERENCES HELLER, E. (191 1). New species of rodents and
carnivores from Equatorial Africa. Smithson. misc. Collns, 56: 1-15.
HINTON, H. E. and DUNN, A. M. A. (1967). Mongooses. Oliver & Boyd, London. 144 pp.
Author’s address: Ernest Neal, Wills East, Taunton School, Somerset, England. (Received for publication January, 1970)
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E. NEAL
Plute l a Puck of thirteen inclicding jiiveniles.
Plate I b Morning emergence from Den 1.
THE BANDED MONGOOSE
Pl t te 2n Curiosity nnd nlertnesu.
Plnte 26 Adult fetiiule it1 charge of rlie eight Y O I I I Z . ~ at Den 2.
