Fun Narrow-striped Mongoose Facts For Kids

The narrow-striped mongoose is a mammal that belongs to the genus of Mungotictis and is known to eat eggs and rodents. There is not a lot of data that is available that can give us the exact number of narrow-striped mongooses that are present in the world today.

However, there are 34 species of mongoose that belong to 20 different genera, and this species is one of the most threatened species. The narrow-striped mongoose (Mungotictis decemlineata) range can be found in the open savannahs and the dry deciduous forest in the western and southwestern forest regions of Madagascar.

This species attains maturity at the age of nine months and breeding and reproduction takes place after this age. The male species often breed with more than one female and are considered polygamous.

Similarly, the female may also mate with more than one male. However, these species together are monogamous.

Read on to discover more fun facts about this animal! For more relatable content, check out these Virginia opossum facts and dwarf mongoose facts for kids.

Narrow-Striped Mongoose Interesting Facts

What type of animal is a narrow-striped mongoose?

The narrow-striped mongoose is a mammal that belongs to the genus of Mungotictis and is known to eat eggs and rodents.

What class of animal does a narrow-striped mongoose belong to?

The narrow-striped mongoose (Mungotictis decemlineata) belongs to the class of mammals and family of Eupleridae.

How many narrow-striped mongooses are there in the world?

There is no substantial data that is available that can give us the exact number of narrow-striped mongooses that are present in the world today. However, there are 34 species of mongoose that belong to 20 different genera. This species is one of the most threatened species.

Where does a narrow-striped mongoose live?

The narrow-striped mongoose (Mungotictis decemlineata) range can be found in the open savannahs and the dry deciduous forest in the western and southwestern forest regions of Madagascar.

What is a narrow-striped mongoose's habitat?

The striped narrow mongoose habitat consists of open savannahs and dry forests. They are terrestrial in nature and these mongooses are endemic to Madagascar.

This mongoose species forages in the topmost layer of soil, ground litter, and disintegrated wood from fallen trees and stumps. These animals prefer to spend their time inside their burrows or in the forest trees. The diet of this species consists of reptile egg membrane, feathers, and fragments of arthropods and larvae.

Who do narrow-striped mongooses live with?

Even though these animals spend a majority of their time inside their burrows or in the trees in forests, they are highly extroverted and social creatures. This species is always in one group or another maternal group with other mongooses.

The group is made up of close to dozen or two members of other species of this same animal. These animals not only have family groups but also have maternal groups.

How long does a narrow-striped mongoose live?

The Malagasy narrow-striped mongoose can live for an average of six to nine years in its natural habitat. They become adults between the ages of nine months and two years. Captive mongooses have a recorded life span of nearly 20 years.

How do they reproduce?

This species attains maturity only after the age of nine months and breeding and reproduction takes place only after this age. The male species often breed with more than one female and are considered polygamous. Similarly, the female may also mate with more than one male. However, these species together are monogamous.

The female narrow-striped mongoose are closely related to their neighbor mongooses since females disperse in smaller areas compared to male mongooses who disperse at a larger range. The breeding period ideally lasts between November and May.

The female gives birth to one baby in each season, that is usually born at the end of the dry season. Many Madagascar narrow-striped mongoose young ones or cubs do not survive due to factors like the weather and predators. The gestation period ideally lasts 74-106 days.

The adult female ideally does not reproduce more than two babies. In case the cubs do not survive after birth, then they may reproduce another young one soon after.

What is their conservation status?

The conservation status of this species is Endangered. This is because of fragmentation of their habitat and habitat loss due to methods of agriculture like slash and burn.

Narrow-Striped Mongoose Fun Facts

What do narrow-striped mongooses look like?

The fur on the body of the narrow-striped mongoose is tawny or grayish in color. The lower half of this species is lighter than the upper half and is also a softer color.

The body of this species has about 10 dark black stripes that run along the sides and the back. Their feet, however, have no fur, but instead have soft pale skin.

This animal has partially webbed feet, and has a bushy and fluffy tail that resembles a squirrel with dark rings around it. The narrow-striped mongoose mouth is very tiny but has a set of sharp and pointy teeth.

Young mongooses look exactly the same, except they are slightly lighter with less prominent strips. Mongooses are known and famous for their group, Herpestidae, that they belong to.

These animals are fierce hunters and have the best hunting skills in their family of mammals. They are also famous for their strange methods of opening eggs as well as other shelled foods like crabs and nuts.

How cute are they?

Narrow-striped mongoose animals are quite adorable to look at. Most people will disagree as these animals do not possess good behavior that make themappear cute. These animals have short round heads and webbed feet which is not really favorable for some people.

How do they communicate?

Mongooses are known to communicate in the funniest manner possible. This species has anal glands through which they secrete smelly substances and they communicate with each other by sniffing the urine in these glands.

Some mongooses also communicate by vocalization. During the daytime, they can be seen constantly talking to each other by chattering and mumbling, very similar to humans.

How big is a narrow-striped mongoose?

The adult narrow-striped mongoose is 9.8-13.8 in (25-35 cm) in length and 9-10.6 in (23-27 cm) tall. These animals are just as big as the adult common squirrel.

How fast can a narrow-striped mongoose move?

Mongooses are not very swift animals and they are slow terrestrial animals. The average speed of this genus is around 20 mph (32.2 kph).

How much does a narrow-striped mongoose weigh?

Mongooses are small to medium-sized animals, which is why they don't weigh much. The narrow-striped mongoose is very lightweight and weighs only 1.3-1.5 lb (600-700 g).

What are the male and female names of the species?

There are no specific names given to the males and the females of the mongoose species. The name used to describe both sexes is the narrow-striped mongoose scientific name, Mungotictis decemlineata.

What would you call a baby narrow-striped mongoose?

The baby narrow-striped mongoose is called a cub.

What do they eat?

A narrow-striped mongoose is a carnivore and the narrow-striped mongoose diet consists of reptile egg membrane, feathers, and fragments of arthropods and larvae. They even consume a variety of bird eggs, small animals, rodents, birds, and snakes. Malagasy civets, jackals, hawks, and eagles are their primary predators.

Are they loud?

These animals are not loud. However, this species is highly extroverted and loves to chatter and mumble among their groups.

Would they make a good pet?

Mongooses are not dangerous to humans but can be harmful to the environment where they live.

This is why in most places it is illegal to put the narrow-striped mongoose for sale. They are small, have beautifully colored, and marked fur and as much as you would want them as your pet, it just isn't a good idea.

The process of narrow-striped mongoose adaptations in places where they are sold can be quite stressful to humans as well as to the animal as they prefer staying in the wild with their groups and not with humans.

Did you know...

The narrow-striped mongoose is popularly also called the Malagasy narrow-striped mongoose.

This species belongs to the Herpestidae family of mammals.

The Mungotictis decemlineata species are found at the Tsimbazaza National Zoo in Madagascar.

What are mongooses famous for?

Mongooses are known and famous for their clan, Herpestidae, that they belong to. These animals are fierce hunters and have the best hunting skills in their family of mammals.

They are also famous for their strange methods of opening eggs as well as other shelled foods like crabs and nuts.

These species stand on their hind legs and smash the eggs to the ground with great force. Sometimes it carries the egg to a rock and then throws the egg between its legs and against the rock until the shell shatters.

How many types of mongoose are there?

Overall there are 33 species of mongooses belonging to 14 genera. The most common ones include Atilax paludinosus (marsh mongoose), Bdeogale crassicauda (bushy-tailed mongoose), Cynictis penicillata (yellow mongoose), Dologale dybowskii (Pousargues's mongoose), Galerella pulverulenta (Cape gray mongoose), Helogale parvula (dwarf mongoose), Herpestes ichneumon (Egyptian mongoose), Herpestes javanicus (Indian mongoose), and Ichneumia albicauda (white-tailed mongoose).

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly animal facts for everyone to discover! Learn more about some other mammals from our stoat interesting facts and coatimundi surprising facts pages.

You can even occupy yourself at home by coloring in one of our free printable narrow-striped mongoose coloring pages.