CreatureData

Mongoose

Urva javanica (É. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1818)

Status not recordedmammals

The mongoose (Urva javanica) is a species in the family Herpestidae, order Carnivora. Recorded adults weigh 750 g to 775 g and live up to 13.3 years.

Mongoose (Urva javanica)
Photo: Chung Bill Bill · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the mongoose

Weight
750 g – 775 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
13.3 yearssrc for Lifespan
Diet
Carnivoresrc for Diet
Longest recorded lifespan
16.6 years
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
Not recorded
Gestation
49 dayssrc for Gestation
Young per litter or clutch
2.21src for Young per litter or clutch
Age at maturity
4.01 months – 9.89 monthssrc for Age at maturity
Litters or clutches a year
2src for Litters or clutches a year
Active
Day and night (cathemeral)src for Active
Lifestyle
Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
Conservation status
Not recorded
Countries on record
Not recorded

Where does the mongoose live?

Not recorded

Where has it been introduced?

The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species lists the mongoose as introduced in 20 countries, and flagged as invasive in 14 of them.

  1. Bahamasinvasive
  2. Barbadosinvasive
  3. British Virgin Islandsinvasive
  4. Cubainvasive
  5. Dominican Republicinvasive
  6. Fijiinvasive
  7. Guyanainvasive
  8. Haitiinvasive
  9. Jamaicainvasive
  10. Japaninvasive
  11. Mauritiusinvasive
  12. Sint Maarteninvasive
  13. St. Kitts & Nevisinvasive
  14. St. Luciainvasive
  15. Antigua & Barbuda
  16. Bosnia & Herzegovina
  17. Colombia
  18. Comoros
  19. Spain
  20. Trinidad & Tobago

Also listed for parts of: United States (Hawaii).

Introduced means brought by people and now present; invasive means the country's checklist records an impact. A species can be native to one part of a country and introduced in another. Source: Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species (CC BY 4.0).

Is the mongoose endangered?

No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.

How is the mongoose classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classMammalia
  4. orderCarnivora
  5. familyHerpestidae
  6. genusUrva
  7. SpeciesUrva javanica (É. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1818)

Synonyms Herpestes javanicus, Herpestes javanicus orientalis, Herpestes javanicus pallipes, Herpestes javanicus perakensis, Herpestes javanicus rafflesii, Herpestes javanicus tjerapai, Herpestes nepalensis, Ichneumon javanicus, Mungos javanicus

Other names and names in other languages (28)
  • Javan mongooseEnglish
  • Small Asian mongooseEnglish
  • Small Indian mongooseEnglish
  • نمس جاويArabic
  • promyka maláCzech
  • Kleiner MungoGerman
  • Meloncillo de JavaSpanish
  • pikkumungoFinnish
  • IntianpikkumangustiFinnish
  • Mangouste de JavaFrench
  • Garangan JawaIndonesian
  • Mangusta di GiavaItalian
  • ジャワマングースJapanese
  • ស្កាKhmer
  • 아시아작은몽구스Korean
  • 작은아시아몽구스Korean
  • Bambun JawaMalay
  • JavamungoNorwegian Bokmål
  • Indische mangoesteDutch
  • Indische Mangoeste (javanicus)Dutch
  • mangusta małaPolish
  • Mangusto-de-JavaPortuguese
  • Pequeno-Mangusto-de-JavaPortuguese
  • Яванский мангустRussian
  • javanesisk mungoSwedish
  • guldfläckig mangustSwedish
  • พังพอนเล็กThai
  • 紅頰獴Chinese

Catalogue of LifeiNaturalistTAXREFWikidata

Relatives of the mongoose

Other species in the same genus Urva.

CompareMongoose vs Indian mongooseMongoose vs Gray mongooseMongoose vs Collared mongooseMongoose vs Brown crab mongoose

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the mongoose?

An adult mongoose weighs 750 g – 775 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

How long does the mongoose live?

The mongoose has a recorded lifespan of 13.3 years.

Is the mongoose an invasive species?

In some places. The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species flags the mongoose as invasive in 14 countries, including Bahamas, Barbados, British Virgin Islands, Cuba and Dominican Republic. It lists it as introduced in 20 in all.

How long is the mongoose pregnant?

The recorded gestation period is 49 days.

What kind of animal is the mongoose?

The mongoose (Urva javanica) belongs to the family Herpestidae in the order Carnivora.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-13. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Mongoose (Urva javanica). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/mongoose

MLA

“Mongoose (Urva javanica).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/mongoose.

BibTeX
@misc{mongoose_2026,
  title = {Mongoose (Urva javanica)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/mongoose},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-13}
}