Species profile
About the common dwarf mongoose
At barely 300 grams, the dwarf mongoose is the smallest carnivore in Africa and one of the most social. Packs of a dozen or more use a network of old termite mounds as sleeping quarters, posting a sentinel on top while the rest forage in the leaf litter below.
Tarangire's termite-mound country is superb for them. They form a genuine working partnership with hornbills, which wait at the mound each morning for the pack to emerge and then follow it, sharing predator warnings for the insects the mongooses flush.
Life in the wild
Behavior & relationships
Behavior
Strictly diurnal. Emerges to sun itself on the mound, forages as a spread-out group with sentinels alert, and returns to the mound before dusk.
Social life
Packs of about eight to thirty led by a dominant pair. Only that pair usually breeds; the rest babysit, guard and even suckle the pups.
What makes it remarkable
Special features
A mutual-alarm partnership with von der Decken’s and red-billed hornbills, which will delay a pack’s departure by calling until it is ready.
