An evaluation of techniques for capturing and radio-collaring large grey mongooses

Techniques for capturing and radio-collaring large grey mongooses, Herpestes ichneumon are presented and evaluated. Two trapping techniques were used, a general one, applied to catch any mongoose, and a specific one, applied to recapture already known individuals in dens. With the first method, 25 m...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Palomares, Francisco, Delibes, M.
Format: article
Publication Date:1992
Country:España
Institution:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Repository:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
OAI Identifier:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/50918
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/50918
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Herpestes ichneumon
large grey mongoose
radio-collaring
trapping
Description
Summary:Techniques for capturing and radio-collaring large grey mongooses, Herpestes ichneumon are presented and evaluated. Two trapping techniques were used, a general one, applied to catch any mongoose, and a specific one, applied to recapture already known individuals in dens. With the first method, 25 mongooses were trapped 42 times using boxtraps. Capture effort was 91 boxtrap-days per individual. With the second method, seven mongooses were trapped nine times using different procedures. Capture effort was 3,2 attempts per individual. Twenty-six mongooses were radio-collared one or more times and ear-tagged. No method of marking was useful for a long period. Mongooses frequently removed their radio-collars and ear-tags, radio- collar antennae were broken in the first month of tracking, and some mongooses suffered abrasions on the neck. A final consideration for the best method of trapping and radio-collaring is given.