Crab-eating Mongoose

Crab-eating Mongoose

Herpestes urva

Silhouette: Margot Michaud · PhyloPic

Daily sighting probability ~10% · With luck
at Taipei

In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%

173 Verified sightings at Taipei
6 In 1 park From 2019 to 2026
May Best month
🌅 Crepuscular When it's spotted

About the Crab-eating Mongoose

The crab-eating mongoose (Urva urva) is a species of mongoose found from the north-eastern Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia to southern China and Taiwan. It is listed as least concern on the IUCN Red List. Gulo urva was the scientific name introduced by Brian Houghton Hodgson in 1836 who first described the type specimen that originated in central Nepal. It was later classified in the genus Herpestes, but all Asian mongooses are now thought to belong in the genus Urva, of which U. urva is the type species.

The crab-eating mongoose is grey on the sides and dusky brown on neck, chest, belly and limbs. It has a broad white stripe on the sides of the neck extending from the cheeks to the shoulder. It has white specks on the top of the head, its chin is white and its throat gray. Its iris is yellow. Its ears are short and rounded. It has webs between the digits. In head-to-body length it ranges from 47.7 to 55.8 cm (18.8 to 22.0 in) with a 28 to 34 cm (11 to 13 in) long bushy tail. Its weight ranges from 1.1 to 2.5 kg (2.4 to 5.5 lb).

The crab-eating mongoose occurs in northeastern India, northern Myanmar, Thailand... Wikipedia →

Sounds

Recording0:04

Taiwan · 2024

© Yunju Fang · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Kaeng Krachan National Park 🇹🇭 Thailand
~10%

More parks will be added in future updates.

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Taipei 🇹🇼 Taiwan
~10%

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Crab-eating Mongoose in Taipei?

With luck

About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Crab-eating Mongoose sighting in Taipei on a given day, based on 173 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 3rd most-seen of the 10 mammals we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 70%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Crab-eating Mongoose in Taipei?

March–June and August–September

In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Crab-eating Mongoose in Taipei on a given day, against under 5% in January, the lowest month.

What time of day is best to see a Crab-eating Mongoose?

Between 8 and 11 am

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Crab-eating Mongoose sightings with a recorded time, and about 6 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is most active around dawn and dusk.

Where else can you see a Crab-eating Mongoose?

Only Taipei, in our data

Taipei is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Crab-eating Mongoose sightings: about 10% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.

Where does the Crab-eating Mongoose sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Crab-eating Mongoose is recorded against all the mammals logged in Taipei (173 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.

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