Primarily found in Africa, mongooses are small, furry land mammals with long bodies and long faces. They are not rodents but rather belong to the family Herpestidae and are closely related to meerkats. There are approximately 30 species of mongooses in the world. A small percentage of them are found in Southern Asia and around the Iberian Peninsula.
Mongoose Facts
- While known for being aggressive hunters capable of taking down fully grown king cobras, mongooses are actually opportunistic feeders. Some species are known to add variety to their diets by complementing it with fruits and seeds.
- Mongooses are fast! They can reach speeds up to 20mph when trying to outrun a predator or capture their prey.
- Not all mongooses live on land. Some of them are semi-aquatic or even prefer to live in trees. The Marsh Mongoose is one such example and can be found in rock formations around rivers and swampy areas.
- Some species of mongooses live in colonies that have up to 50 members. Colonies communicate with each other using language patterns that are similar to humans. This allows them to hunt efficiently in packs and coordinate foraging.
- Introduced to Hawaii and the Caribbean as an invasive species, they caused some types of birds and rodents to become extinct while being a threatened species themselves.
We hope you enjoyed these cool facts about mongooses. Stay tuned for more cool animal facts!
Thank you . I do enjoy the information.
I observed many mongoose while staying on St John’s in the American Virginia Islands. They would come close to our open room and wait for us to feed them breakfast. They were imported to reduce the rat population on the islands…a miserable failure since rats are nocturnal and mongoose are diurnal. Fun to watch. And yes, very fast. Not at all afraid of humans on St. JOHNS.
Lived there six years. Fed a feral car colony. Mongoose joined in!
Do they make good pets?
I always wondered what the plural is of mongoose. Mongooses sounds good to me.