Mongoose

A taxidermied mongoose on display at the Okinawa Prefectural Museum

• Japanese: マングース (manguusu)

Mongooses are an invasive species prevalent on Okinawa Island and Amami Ôshima. It's believed there are about 30,000 mongooses in Okinawa prefecture today (a figure which does not include those in the Amami Islands).

Indian mongooses were intentionally introduced into Okinawa prefecture in 1910, with the intention of combating the problems of vermin such as rats and habu (Ryukyuan pit viper). However, the mongooses proliferated without making a significant impact upon rat or snake populations - as in Hawaii and elsewhere, the key problem is that mongooses are diurnal, and sleep during the night, when they might otherwise encounter nocturnal rats or snakes. Instead, mongooses have had a severely negative impact upon populations of many native species, including Yanbaru kuina (flightless birds of northern Okinawa Island) and Amami rabbits, both of which are now endangered.

Mongooses eat a wide variety of foods, including insects, lizards, birds and their eggs, and small mammals.

References

• Gallery labels, Okinawa Prefectural Museum.[2]