Immobiliza ion and ma king o he Egyp ian
Mongoose,
He pes es
ichneumon
(L.), in
Spain
By
J.
F.
BELTRAN,
M.
DELIBES
and C.
IBAREz
Es ación Biológica
de
Doñana, Se illa,
Spain
Recei s
o
Ms.
29.4.
1985
Ma king mongooses has p o ed o be di icul .
RooD
and NELLI5 (1980) succeed
in
ma king dwa mongooses (Helogale pa ula) and small Indian mongooses (He pes es
au opunc a us) by locally eezing hei skins wi h
dichlo odi luo me hane.
This
p oduces
whi e pa ches o hai ha las he animal’s li e span, Howe e ,
BEN-YAAcOV
and
Y0M-To
(1983) ailed o ma k Egyp ian mongooses (He pes es ichneumon) by se e al
p ocedu es
( eeze ma king, neck colla s, ea ags, dyeing, e c). He e we epo he cap u e,
immobili-
za ion and success ul adio- agging o wo adul Egyp ian mongooses (male and emale)
in
he Donana Na ional Pa k, SW Spain
To ca ch he male we used a li e ap bai ed wi h d y ish. The emale was cap u ed in
a
bigge ap se o lynxes and bai ed wi h a li e abbi . Bo h indi iduals we e
immobilized
by means o a combina ion o ke amine hyd ochlo ide (Ke ola , Pa ke Da is, El P a
de
Llob ega ) and iazine
hyd ochlo ide (Rompün,
Baye , Ba celona) injec ed
in amuscu-
la ly.
The male weighed 3050 g and was immobilized wice in one week. The i s ime
we
used a dose o 20mg o Ke ola and 20mg o Rompün ( ha is, unde 7mg o each
p oduc
pe kg o body weigh ). Induc ion ime (IT) equi ed o o al
immobiliza ion
was
ou
minu es. Two hou s la e his indi idual, p o ided wi h he colla , was
appa en ly
eco e ed. The animal
‘Was
anes he ized again a e se en days o obse e possible
inju ies
p oduced by he colla . On his occasion we used a lowe ini ial dose o Ke ola
(10mg)
and Rompün (16 mg). As he animal was s ill in ac able wen y minu es la e , an
addi ional
dose o 6 mg o each p oduc was
adminis e ed
.
The IT was hen simila o ha obse ed
in
he i s
immobiliza ion.
One hou la e he animal was able o mo e bu o al
mo o
con ol was only eco e ed 2 h 15mm a e he injec ion o he i s dose. A neck
inspec ion e ealed no
inju ies.
The emale weighed 2200 g and a dose o
15mg
o Ke ola and 15mg o
Rompün
(7
mgI
kg) was su icien o immobilize
i .
The IT was 2 minu es and h ee hou s la e
he
mongoose began o mo e. I s body
empe a u e
dec eased om 39.5 °C (in he
i s
minu es a e he injec ion) o 35.9 °C (45 minu es be o e he i s
ecupe a ion mo e-
men s).
The male was p o ided wi h a whi e home-made adio-colla based on a SB2-IV
ansmi e (AVM
Ins umen
Co., Cali o nia) i ed o i s neck by a
nylon-plas ic-bel
wo
cen ime e s wide, A gui a s ing ac ing as an an enna lay loosely on he animal’s back.
The
comple e de ice weighed 90 g (3 % o he animal weigh ). E en
i
neck hai s co e ed
he
colla , i allowed ield
inden i ica ion.
The mongoose was kep in cap i i y o se en days
o obse e i s eac ions. Du ing his ime no a emp s o pull he adio-colla ou we e
obse ed, This indi idual was acked om 14 h July o 14 h Augus 1983. Radio
con ac
was hen los . I s home ange (es ima ed by he minimum con ex polygon me hod) was
2.8
squa e kilome e s and he mean a eled dis ance pe day 2.9 km ( ange
=
0.62—6.42).
U.S. Copy igh
Clea ance
Cen e Code
S a emen :
0044-3468/85/5004-0243
$
02.50/0
Z.
Sauge ie kunde
50
(1985) 243—244
©
1985
Ve lag
Paul
Pa ey, Hambu g und Be lin
ISSN 0044-3468
I
In e Code: ZSAEA
7
244 1. F. Bel án, M. Delibes and C.
Ibánez
Ac i i y was diu nal. I was obse ed ea ing om a abbi and mo ing wi h ano he
adul
wi h young (DELIBE5 and
BELTRAN
1986).
A adio-colla weighing 60 g (less han 3 % o he animal weigh ) and shipped
by
Wildli e Ma e ials Inc. (1llinois) was i ed o he emale. The paãkage and he nylon bel
(1.5cm wide) we e black and inden i ica ion o he animal in he ield was di icul e en
hough he an enna was ed and whi e. This animal was acked om 13 h No embe 1984
o 9 h Janua y 1985. On his da e
i
was ound dead in a bu ow unde a dense
hicke .
Au opsy showed nume ous blood punc u es unde he skin bu no he ac ual cause o
he
dea h. A i s analysis o he adio- acking da a e eals a home ange close o 1.6 squa e
kilome e s and only diu nal
ac i i y.
To conclude, i s da a sugges ha neck colla s applied o mongooses a e no pulled
ou , do no p oduce inju ies, do no modi y i s gene al habi s and do allow he ecogni ion
o he animal. The e o e hey could be a sui able me hod o ma king Egyp ian mongooses
and o he He pes inae. To de e mine whe he he beha iou o hese diu nal mammals
endowed wi h colou ision
(BUcKER
1957) as a ec ed by colou ed colla s is a
ques ion
ha we ailed o sol e du ing his sho pe iod o
adio- acking.
We hank R.
LAFFITTE
o help in ield wo k and L. FIsHER o help in
manusc ip
ansla ion. This s udy was suppo ed by he
CSIC-CAICYT
(subp ojec numbe
944;
1985—1987).
Re e ences
BEN-YAAKO , R. Y0M-To , Y. (1983): On he biology o he Egyp ian Mongoose, He pes es
ichneumon,
in
Is ael.
Z.
Sauge ie kunde
48, 34—45.
DELIBE5, M.;
BELTRAN,
J. F. (1986):
Ac i i y, daily mo emen s
and
home ange
o an
Ichneumon
o
Egyp ian Mongoose (He pes es ichneu non) in Sou he n Spain. J. Zool., Lond. in p ess).
DOcKER,
G. (1957): Fa b- und Helligkei ssehen und
Ins ink e
bei Vi e iden und Felideo. Zool. Bei .
(NF) 3, 25—99.
Roon, J. P.;
NELLI5,
D. W. (1980): F eeze ma king Mongooses. J.
WildL. Manage.
44, 500—502.
Au ho ’s add ess: JUAN FRANcIsco
BELTRAN, MIGUEL
Da e s
and
CARLO5
IaM’Ez. Es ación
Biológica de Doñana,
Apa ado
1056, E-41080 Se illa, Spain