Herpestes vitticollis
Silhouette: Margot Michaud · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~80% in a week >90%
The stripe-necked mongoose (Urva vitticolla) is a mongoose species native to forests and shrublands from southern India to Sri Lanka. English zoologist Edward Turner Bennett described this species in 1835. There are two subspecies. U. vitticolla vitticolla is from the provinces of Western Ghats, Coorg and Kerala, and has more of a reddish tint to its fur. The other, U. vitticolla inornata, is found in the Kanara province, and lacks a reddish tint to its fur.
It is rusty brown to grizzled grey, has a stout body and short legs, a black stripe that runs laterally on both sides of its neck. Its short tail is mostly black, but grey at the base. Head to body length is 46–50 cm (18–20 in) with tail length of 32 cm (13 in). Males are larger and heavier than females with the weight of 3.1 kg (6.8 lb). Females weigh about 1.7 kg (3.7 lb).
The stripe-necked mongoose is distributed in the Western Ghats and in Sri Lanka. In 1911, one individual was observed in southern Andhra Pradesh. It is diurnal and feeds on frogs, crabs, mouse deer, black naped hares, rodents, fowl, and reptiles. It generally avoids... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nagarhole National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 2 | Horton Plains National Park | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 3 | Yala National Park | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 4 | Bandipur National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 5 | Periyar National Park | 🇮🇳 India |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Parque de las Leyendas | 🇵🇪 Peru |
Likely
About 40% of wildlife watchers report a Stripe-necked Mongoose sighting in Horton Plains National Park on a given day, based on 11 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 4th most-seen of the 6 mammals we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 80%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January and March
In those months about 60% of wildlife watchers report a Stripe-necked Mongoose in Horton Plains National Park on a given day, against about 10% in April, August and November, the lowest months. Those are among Horton Plains National Park's driest months, with about 95 mm of rain a month against 370 mm in October. September has too few records to rate.
Between 3 and 6 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Stripe-necked 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.
2nd of 5
Of the 5 parks where we can rate Stripe-necked Mongoose sightings, Horton Plains National Park ranks 2nd at about 40%. The best odds are in Nagarhole National Park (India, about 60%). All parks ranked.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Stripe-necked Mongoose is recorded against all the mammals logged in Horton Plains National Park (11 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
