Abundance of Indian Grey Mongoose Herpestes Edwardsii (É. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1818) (Carnivora: Herpestidae) in the Bengaluru Region

Abstract

Indian Grey Mongoose, Herpestes edwardsii is common throughout the Indian subcontinent. To investigate the abundance of this species, a study was conducted in different urban locations of the Bengaluru, Karnataka State of South India. A significant difference was found among the relative percentage abundance of mongooses in various study locations. The highest abundance of mongoose was recorded from prohibited places, mostly in the rural and suburban regions, and the least in the urban region depending upon the availability of food and protected shelter in the reed beds and thickets of aquatic vegetation, particularly during the breeding season. They usually breed on the ground and need shelter from direct sunrays as well as potential predators during this period. This mongoose species also prefers shelter in the reed beds and thickets of aquatic vegetation and the suburban and rural region for diurnal activities