Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

New detection of a 30-year-old population of introduced mongoose Herpestes auropunctatus on Kyushu Island, Japan

  • Invasion Note
  • Published:
Biological Invasions Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The small Indian mongoose Herpestes auropunctatus, which was recently determined to be a separate species from the Javan mongoose H. javanicus, is one of the most notorious invasive predators known. A population of Herpestes sp. was recently reported at Kagoshima prefecture on Kyushu Island, one of the main Japanese islands. Surprisingly, the trapping actions and information from residents after this report suggest that this Herpestes sp. population has been established in this area for at least 30 years. In this study, based on mitochondrial DNA sequences, we identified seven recently obtained Herpestes sp. individuals from this area as H. auropunctatus, confirming that an additional mongoose population has been established on Kyushu Island. Confirmation of the spatial distribution of the mongoose and surveillance systems in surrounding areas are urgently needed to prevent further expansion of this mongoose’s distribution. It also highlights the large gap between the accepted scientific knowledge relating to biosecurity against biological invasion and local knowledge on the ground, even when the introduced species is notorious and relatively conspicuous. Recent progressions of invasibility studies would greatly contribute to the prioritization of allocating adequate resources to areas with high invasion risks.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abe S, Handa Y, Abe Y, Takatsuki Y, Nigi H (1999) Food habits of Feral Mongoose (Herpestes sp.) on Amamioshima, Japan. In: Rodda GH, Sawai Y, Chiszar D, Tanaka H (eds) Problem snake management: the habu and the brown treesnake. Cornel University Press, New York, pp 372–383

    Google Scholar 

  • Altschul SF, Gish W, Miller W, Myers EW, Lipman DJ (1990) Basic local alignment search tool. J Mol Biol 215:403–410

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Association of Wildlife Research, EnVision (2010) Search system of Japanese red data. http://www.jpnrdb.com/index.html. Cited on 1 Mar 2010 (In Japanese)

  • Atkinson IAE (1985) The spread of commensal species of Rattus to oceanic islands and their effect on island avifaunas. In: Moors PJ (ed) Conservation of Island birds. ICBP Technical Publication, Cambridge, pp 35–81

    Google Scholar 

  • Bertolino S (2009) Animal trade and non-indigenous species introduction: the world-wide spread of squirrels. Divers Distrib 15:701–708

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Byers JE, Reichard S, Randall JM et al (2002) Directing research to reduce the impacts of nonindigenous species. Conserv Biol 16:630–640

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Case TJ, Bolger DT (1991) The role of introduced species in shaping the distribution and abundance of island reptiles. Evol Ecol 5:272–290

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cavallini P, Serafini P (1995) Winter diet of the small Indian mongoose, Herpestes auropunctatus, on an Adriatic Island. J Mammal 76:569–574

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cheke AS (1987) An ecological history of the Mascarene Islands, with particular reference to extinctions and introductions of land vertebrates. In: Diamond AW (ed) Studies of Mascarene Island birds. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 5–89

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Courchamp F, Chapuis JL, Pascal M (2003) Mammal invaders on islands: impact, control and control impact. Biol Rev 78:347–383

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • DNA Data Bank of Japan (2009) http://www.ddbj.nig.ac.jp. Cited on 8 Nov 2009

  • Finnoff D, Shogren JF, Leung B, Lodge D (2007) Take a risk: preferring prevention over control of biological invaders. Ecol Econ 62:216–222

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Giovanelli JGR, Haddad CFB, Alexandrino J (2008) Predicting the potential distribution of the alien invasive American bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus) in Brazil. Biol Invasions 10:585–590

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gorman ML (1975) The diet of feral Herpestes auropunctatus (Carnivora: Viverridae) in the Fijian Islands. J Zool 175:273–278

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gregory SD, Macdonald DW (2009) Prickly coexistence or blunt competition? Opuntia refugia in an invaded rodent community. Oecologia 159:225–236

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hays WST, Conant S (2007) Biology and impacts of Pacific Island invasive species. 1. A worldwide review of effects of the small Indian mongoose, Herpestes javanicus (Carnivora: Herpestidae). Pac Sci 61:3–16

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Henderson RW (1992) Consequences of predator introductions and habitat destruction on amphibians and reptiles in the post-Columbus West Indies. Caribb J Sci 28:1–10

    Google Scholar 

  • Honegger RE (1981) List of amphibians and reptiles either known or thought to have become extinct since 1600. Biol Conserv 19:141–158

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Irwin DM, Kocher TD, Wilson AC (1991) Evolution of the cytochrome-B gene of mammals. J Mol Evol 32:128–144

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Japan Meteorological Agency (2009) http://www.data.jma.go.jp/obd/stats/etrn/index.php. Cited on 8 Nov 2009

  • Japan Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (2010) http://www.stat.go.jp/data/nihon/index.htm. Cited on 4 March 2009

  • Kadoya T, Ishii HS, Kikuchi R, Suda S, Washitani I (2009) Using monitoring data gathered by volunteers to predict the potential distribution of the invasive alien bumblebee Bombus terrestris. Biol Conserv 142:1011–1017

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kotaka N, Kudaka M, Takehara K, Takehara K, Sato H (2009) Ground use pattern by forest animals and vulnerability toward invasion by Herpestes javanicus into Yambaru, northern Okinawa Island, Southern Japan. Jpn J Ornithol 58:28–45 (in Japanese with English summary)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leighton PA, Horrocks JA, Krueger BH, Beggs JA, Kramer DL (2008) Predicting species interactions from edge responses: mongoose predation on hawksbill sea turtle nests in fragmented beach habitat. Proc R Soc B Biol Sci 275:2465–2472

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Long JL (2003) Introduced mammals of the world: their history, distribution and influence. CABI Publishing, Wallingford 589

    Google Scholar 

  • Lowe S, Browne M, Boudjelas S, De Poorter M (2000) 100 of the world’s worst invasive alien species: a selection from the global invasive species database. Invasive Species Specialist Group (ISSG), a specialist group of the Species Survival Commission (SSC) of the World Conservation Union (IUCN), 12 pp

  • Matthews HD, Turner SE (2009) Of mongooses and mitigation: ecological analogues to geoengineering. Environ Res Lett 4:045105

    Google Scholar 

  • Morley CG (2004) Has the invasive mongoose Herpestes javanicus yet reached the island of Taveuni, Fiji? Oryx 38:457–460

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nakagawa H (1899) Risks of reckless introduction of animals from oversea countries. Zool Mag 12:70–72 (in Japanese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Nakama H, Komizo K (2009) On the mongoose in Kiire-sesekushi-cho Kagoshima city, Kagoshima prefecture. Bull Kagoshima Prefectural Mus 28:103–104 (in Japanese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Nellis DW, Everard COR (1983) The biology of the mongoose in the Caribbean Foundation for scientific research in Surinam and the Netherlands, Netherlands, 162 pp

  • Nellis DW, Small V (1983) Mongoose predation on sea turtle eggs and nests. Biotropica 15:159–160

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nellis DW, Dewey RA, Hewitt MA, Imsand S, Philibosian R, Yntema JA (1984) Population status of zenaida doves and other Columbids in the Virgin Islands. J Wildl Manage 48:889–894

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Park K (2004) Assessment and management of invasive alien predators. Ecol Soc 9:12

    Google Scholar 

  • Parker IM, Simberloff D, Lonsdale WM et al (1999) Impact: toward a framework for understanding the ecological effects of invaders. Biol Invasions 1:3–19

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pimentel D (1955) Biology of the Indian mongoose in Puerto Rico. J Mammal 36:62–68

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roy SS, Jones CG, Harris S (2002) An ecological basis for control of the mongoose Herpestes javanicus in Mauritius: is eradication possible? In: Veitch CR, Clout MN (eds) Turning the tide: the eradication of invasive species, IUCN SSC Invasive Species Specialist Group. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland, pp 266–273

  • Russell JC, Beaven BM, MacKay JWB, Towns DR, Clout MN (2008) Testing island biosecurity systems for invasive rats. Wildl Res 35:215–221

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Salo P, Korpimaki E, Banks PB, Nordstrom M, Dickman CR (2007) Alien predators are more dangerous than native predators to prey populations. Proc R Soc B Biol Sci 274:1237–1243

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Simberloff D, Parker IM, Windle PN (2005) Introduced species policy, management, and future research needs. Front Ecol Environ 3:12–20

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sugimura K, Yamada F (2004) Estimating population size of the Amami rabbit Pentalagus furnessi based on fecal pellet counts on Amami Island, Japan. Acta Zool Sin 50:519–526

    Google Scholar 

  • The Minaminippon Shinbun Newspaper (2009a) Confirming the establishment of the mongoose in the Kiire area, Kagoshima city. 23 June 2009 (in Japanese)

  • The Minaminippon Shinbun Newspaper (2009b) The mongoose was captured 30 years ago; the resident in the Kiire area possesses a stuffed mongoose. 10 July 2009 (in Japanese)

  • Thulin CG, Simberloff D, Barun A, McCracken G, Pascal M, Islam MA (2006) Genetic divergence in the small Indian mongoose (Herpestes auropunctatus), a widely distributed invasive species. Mol Ecol 15:3947–3956

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Veron G, Patou M-L, Pothet G, Simberloff D, Hennings AP (2007) Systematic status and biogeography of the Javan and small Indian mongooses (Herpestidae, Carnivora). Zool Scr 36:1–10

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vilella FJ (1998) Biology of the mongoose (Herpestes javanicus) in a rain forest of Puerto Rico. Biotropica 30:120–125

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Watari Y, Takatsuki S, Miyashita T (2008) Effects of exotic mongoose (Herpestes javanicus) on the native fauna of Amami-Oshima Island, southern Japan, estimated by distribution patterns along the historical gradient of mongoose invasion. Biol Invasions 10:7–17

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Watari Y, Yamada I, Watanabe T (2009) Single-meal maximum ingestion of the invasive mongoose (Herpestes javanicus) for evaluating food consumption in the field. N Z J Zool 36:417–421

    Google Scholar 

  • Yamada F, Ogura G, Abe S (2009) Herpestes javanicus (È. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1818). In: Ohdachi SD, Ishibashi Y, Iwasa MA, Saito T (eds) The wild mammals in Japan. SHOUKADOH Book Sellers, Kyoto, pp 264–266

Download references

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Shintaro Abe (Naha Nature Conservation Office, Ministry of the Environment), Fumio Yamada (Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute), Franck Courchamp, and Stephen Gregory (Ecologie, Systématique et Evolution, UMR CNRS 8079, Univ Paris-Sud) for improving our manuscript. We also thank Hiromu Nakama (Kagoshima Prefectural Museum), Katsuki Komizo (Kinkowan High School), Tatsuro Matsuo (Amami Mongoose Busters), Kazutaka Kaida, Kazushi Kohama (Kagoshima Prefecture), Shigeru Okada, Katsunori Shioya, Takayasu Inadome (The Foundation of Kagoshima Environmental Research and Service), Kanji Tamai (Hirakawa Zoological Park), Go Ogura (University of the Ryukyus), Junichi Saito (Kyushu Regional Environmental Office, Ministry of the Environment), Masaya Tatara (Amami Wildlife Conservation Center, Ministry of the Environment), Tsuneaki Yabe, Nobuhiko Kotaka, Masatoshi Yasuda (Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute), Yasunori Maezono (Tatsugo town), and Arijana Barun (University of Tennessee) for valuable information and helping this study. We also thank two anonymous referees for constructive comments. This study was partly funded by Research Fellowship for Young Scientists by Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. JSPS Research Fellow, Laboratory of Wildlife Ecology, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, 1 Matsunosato, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8687, Japan

    Yuya Watari

  2. Ecologie, Systématique et Evolution, UMR CNRS 8079, Univ Paris-Sud, Bât 362, 91405, Orsay Cedex, France

    Yuya Watari

  3. Laboratory of Wildlife Ecology, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, 1 Matsunosato, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8687, Japan

    Junco Nagata

  4. Biological Laboratory, Faculty of Intercultural Studies, The International University of Kagoshima, 8-34-1 Sakanoue, Kagoshima, 891-0197, Japan

    Kimitake Funakoshi

Authors
  1. Yuya Watari
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Junco Nagata
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Kimitake Funakoshi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yuya Watari.

Additional information

Japanese abstract is provided by the authors, and is for convenience of the users only. The author certifies that the translation faithfully represents the official version in the language of the journal, which is the published Abstract of record and is the only Abstract to be used for reference and citation.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Watari, Y., Nagata, J. & Funakoshi, K. New detection of a 30-year-old population of introduced mongoose Herpestes auropunctatus on Kyushu Island, Japan. Biol Invasions 13, 269–276 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-010-9809-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-010-9809-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation