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| Common Name: | Dwarf Mongoose | Family: | Herpestidae |
| Latin Name: | Helogale parvula | Diet: | Carnivore |
| Type: | Mammal | Habitat: | Grasslands |
| Native To: | Africa | Social Unit: | Group |
| IUCN Red List Status: | Least Concern |
Dwarf mongoose at Edinburgh Zoo
We currently have four dwarf mongooses at Edinburgh Zoo. Two males and two females. The two males were born in 2008 and came to us in January 2012 from Helsinki. The two females have arrived from Emmen Zoo.
Where can they be found
They can be found in the pygmy hippo indoor viewing area.
Dwarf Mongoose in the Wild
The dwarf mongoose is a highly social species that lives in groups of two to thirty animals. They are normally found in dry grassland, open forests and bush land, preferably in areas with lots of temite mounds, thier favourite sleeping place. Due to their small size they are in fact Africa's smallest carnivore.
Their diet consists mainly of insects, such as beetle larvae, grasshoppers, crickets and termites, however they are also known to eat, spiders, small lizards, snakes, birds and rodents.
Mongooses tend to breed during October to April. raising up to three litters, each with a gestation period of 53 days and containing 4 - 6 pups. Typically only the dominant female will become pregnant however if conditions are good, some of the subordinate females will also breed. The whole group helps to raise the young with subordinate females even producing milk for them. By the time the young reach the age of 2 - 3 the males will disperse and join other groups, where as the females tend to spend thier whole lives with the group they are born into.
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