Elroy & Elliot: Brothers, born June 30, 2003, at the Helsinki Zoo in Finland. They arrived from the Brookfield Zoo on January 18, 2011.
Diva: Female, born on September 15, 2010, at the Central Park Zoo in New York City. She arrived at the Philadelphia Zoo on February 13, 2013.
You can find Elroy, Elliot, and Diva on exhibit in the Carnivore Kingdom.
Moga: Male, born July 31, 2003, at the St. Louis Zoo. He arrived at the Philadelphia Zoo on June 1, 2005.
Jada: Female, born November 13, 2007, at the Brookfield Zoo. She arrived at the Philadelphia Zoo on October 27, 2010.
You can see Moga and Jada in the Rare Animal Conservation Center.
Viewing Hints
You can find our breeding pair of dwarf mongoose in Carnivore Kingdom. They are usually terrestrial and can be located on the floor of their habitat. On occasion they will hop up onto the rocky ledges, showing off their great leaping and climbing abilities. We also have a trio located at the Rare Animal Conservation Center right next to our naked mole-rat colony.
Mongoose utilize many vocalizations. Some are used to alert the pack of danger or signal time to move, others allow subadults to communicate with young. The vocalizations sound like: tinkling, trilling, vibrating, chirrups and "twitters".
Longevity
6-8 years
Reproduction
The oldest female is the only one that will produce offspring. The gestation period for a dwarf mongoose is 50-54 days. She may produce 1-6 in a litter and may give birth 3-4 times per year. Once they are born the mother only comes back to nurse the young. Subordinate males and females act as "babysitters" to the young, assuming primary responsibility for raising the young. Youngsters usually emerge from the den site after 3 weeks.
Behavior
Mongoose have a "mammal-bird mutualism" with hornbills. Hornbills will follow after mongoose packs while they forage each day. As the mongoose travel through their range they are disturbing insects, which the hornbills then consume. In return for the meals that the mongoose provide to the birds, hornbills will alert the pack of predators so the mongoose can all run to protected areas.
To learn more about the conservation efforts at the Philadelphia Zoo,
click here.