Hostname: page-component-76d6cb85b7-hqrjx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-07-18T14:19:30.180Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Managing the Invasive Small Indian Mongoose in Fiji

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 September 2016

Philip Brown  and
Adam Daigneault
Philip Brown*
Affiliation:
Landcare Research, New Zealand
Adam Daigneault
Affiliation:
Landcare Research, New Zealand
*
Correspondence: Philip Brown ▪ Landcare Research ▪ Gerald Street ▪ Lincoln, New Zealand 7608 ▪ Phone +64.3.321.9999 ▪ EmailBrownP@landcareresearch.co.nz.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The small Indian mongoose is among the worst of invasive alien species, yet the implications of managing the species are poorly understood. To address concerns of interest to practitioners and policymakers, we analyze survey data to document the impacts of this species in Fiji and conduct a cost-benefit analysis of management approaches that are both culturally appropriate and readily implementable: live trapping, kill trapping, and hunting. We find that the monetized benefits of kill trapping exceed the benefits of live trapping and hunting. Still, all of these management options are preferred to the status quo of no management.

Keywords

cost-benefit analysisHerpestesinvasive alien speciesmongoosenonmarket valuationsurvey data

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Agricultural and Resource Economics Review , Volume 44 , Issue 3 , December 2015 , pp. 275 - 290
Copyright
Copyright © 2015 Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Abe, S. 2013. “Eradication Project of Invasive Alien Mongooses on Amami-Oshima Island, Japan.” Paper presented at First Asia Park Congress, Sendei City.Google Scholar
Barbour, T. 1930. “Some Faunistic Changes in the Lesser Antilles.” Proceedings of the New England Zoological Club 11: 73–85.Google Scholar
Barun, A., Hanson, C.C., Campbell, K.J., and Simberloff, D. 2011. “A Review of Small Indian Mongoose Management and Eradications on Islands.” In Veitch, C.R., Clout, M.N., and Towns, D.R., eds., Island Invasives: Eradication and Management. Gland, Switzerland: IUCN.Google Scholar
Brown, B.B. 1968. “Delphi Process: A Methodology Used for the Elicitation of Opinions of Experts.” Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation. Available at www.rand.org/pubs/papers/P3925 (accessed August 2015).Google Scholar
Brown, P., and Daigneault, A. 2014a. “Cost-Benefit Analysis of Managing the Invasive African Tulip Tree (Spathodea campanulata) in the Pacific.” Environmental Science and Policy 39(1): 65–76.Google Scholar
2014b. “Cost-Benefit Analysis of Managing the Papuana uninodis (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) Taro Beetle in Fiji.” Journal of Economic Entomology 107(5): 1866–1877.Google Scholar
Buncle, A., Daigneault, A., Holland, P., Fink, A., Hook, S., and Manley, M. 2013. Cost-Benefit Analysis for Natural Resource Management in the Pacific. Suva, Fiji: Secretariat of the Pacific Community. Available at www.undp-alm.org/sites/default/files/downloads/cost-benefit_analysis_for_natural_resource_management_in_the_pacific-a_guide.pdf (accessed August 2015).Google Scholar
Cavallini, P., and Serafini, P. 1995. “Winter Diet of the Small Indian Mongoose, Herpestes Auropunctatus, on an Adriatic Island.” Journal of Mammalogy 76(2): 569–574.Google Scholar
Collings, D. 1984. “Leptospira interrogans Infection in Domestic and Wild Animals in Fiji.” New Zealand Veterinary Journal 32(3): 21–24.Google Scholar
Creekmore, T.E., Linhart, S.B., Corn, J.L., Whitney, M.D., Snyder, B.D., and Nettles, V.F. 1994. “Field Evaluation of Baits and Baiting Strategies for Delivering Oral Vaccine to Mongooses in Antigua, West Indies.” Journal of Wildlife Diseases 30(4): 497–505.Google Scholar
Daigneault, A., and Brown, P. 2013. “Invasive Species Management in the Pacific Using Survey Data and Benefit-Cost Analysis.” Paper presented at the 57th Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society annual conference, Sydney.Google Scholar
Daigneault, A., Brown, P., Greenhalgh, S., Boudjelas, S., Maher, J., Nagle, W., and Aalbersberg, W. 2013. “Valuing the Impact of Selected Invasive Species in the Polynesia-Micronesia Hotspot.” Lincoln, New Zealand: Landcare Research. Available at www.isinz.com/documents/CEPF-valuing-invasives.pdf (accessed August 2015).Google Scholar
Dalkey, N., and Helmer, O. 1963. “An Experimental Application of the Delphi Method to the Use of Experts.” Management Science 9(3): 458–467.Google Scholar
Djagoun, C.A.M.S. Akpona, H.A., Sinsin, B., Mensah, G.A., and Dossa, N.F. 2009. “Mongoose Species in Southern Benin: Preliminary Ecological Survey and Local Community Perceptions.” Mammalia 73(1): 27–32 (doi: 10.1515/MAMM.2009.009).Google Scholar
Egan, A.F., and Jones, S.B. 1997. “Determining Forest Harvest Impact Assessment Criteria Using Expert Opinion: A Delphi Study.” Northern Journal of Applied Forestry 14(1): 20–25 Google Scholar
Emerton, L., and Howard, G. 2008. A Toolkit for the Economic Analysis of Invasive Species. Nairobi, Kenya: Global Invasive Species Programme.Google Scholar
Espeut, W.B. 1882. On the Acclimitization of Indian Mongoose in Jamaica. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London: 712–714.Google Scholar
Everard, C.O.R., and Everard, J.D. 1992. “Mongoose Rabies in the Caribbean.” Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 653(1): 356–366.Google Scholar
Fijian Government. 2013. “Fiji Budget Estimates 2012.” Available at www.fiji.gov.fj/getattachment/b4ef6524-4f22-4769-9977-215e449992f7/Download-2012-Budget-Estimates-(pdf).aspx (accessed August 2015).Google Scholar
Gilchrist, J.S., Jennings, A.P., Veron, G., and Cavallini, P. 2009. “Family Herpestidae.” In Wilson, D., and Mittermeier, R.A., eds., Handbook of the Mammals of the World, Volume 1: Carnivores. Barcelona, Spain: Lynx Edicions.Google Scholar
Gorman, M.L. 1975. “The Diet of Feral Herpestes auropunctatus (Carnivora: Viverridae) in the Fijian Islands.” Journal of Zoology 175(2): 273–278 (doi: 10.1111/j.1463-6409.2006.00261.x).Google Scholar
Gorman, M.L. 1979. “Dispersion and Foraging of the Small Asian Mongoose, Herpestes auropunctatus (Carnivora: Viverridae) Relative to the Evolution of Social Viverrids.” Journal of Zoology 187(1): 65–73.Google Scholar
Hays, W.S.T., and Conant, S. 2003. “Male Social Activity in the Small Indian Mongoose Herpestes javanicus.” Acta Theriologica 48(4): 485–494.Google Scholar
Helmer, O., and Rescher, N. 1959. “On the Epistemology of the Inexact Science.” Management Science 6(1): 25–53.Google Scholar
Hodgson, B.H. 1836. “Mangusta auropunctata.” Journal of Asiatic Society Bengal 5: 235–236.Google Scholar
Invasive Species Specialist Group. 2015. “Global Invasive Species Database: Herpestes auropunctatus. ” Available at www.issg.org/database/species/ecology.asp?si=86&fr=1&sts=sss&lang=EN (accessed August 2015).Google Scholar
Lal, P.N., and Holland, P. 2010. Economics of Resource and Environmental Project Management in the Pacific. Gland, Switzerland and Suva, Fiji: IUCN and SOPAC Secretariat.Google Scholar
Lowe, S., Browne, M., Boudjelas, S., and De Poorter, M. 2004. “100 of the World's Worst Invasive Alien Species: A selection from the Global Invasive Species Database.” Auckland, New Zealand: IUCN Invasive Species Specialist Group. Google Scholar
McGregor, A. 2007. “The Export of Horticultural and High-value Agricultural Products from the Pacific Islands.” Pacific Economic Bulletin 22(3): 81–99.Google Scholar
Morley, C.G. 2004. “Has the Invasive Mongoose Herpestes javanicus Yet Reached the Island of Taveuni, Fiji?” Oryx 38(4): 457–460.Google Scholar
Morley, C.G., McLenachan, P.A., and Lockhart, P.J. 2007. “Evidence for the Presence of a Second Species of Mongoose in the Fiji Islands.” Pacific Conservation Biology 13(1): 29–34.Google Scholar
Morley, C.G., and Winder, L. 2013. “The Effect of the Small Indian Mongoose (Urva auropunctatus), Island Quality, and Habitat on the Distribution of Native and Endemic Birds on Small Islands within Fiji.” PLoS ONE 8(1): e53842 (doi:10.1371/journal. pone.0053842).Google Scholar
Nellis, D.W. 1989. “Herpestes auropunctatus.” Mammalian Species 442: 1–6.Google Scholar
Nellis, D.W., and Everard, C.O.R. 1983. “The Biology of the Mongoose in the Caribbean.” Studies on the Fauna of Curaçao and other Caribbean Islands 1(1): 1–162.Google Scholar
Pacific Catastrophe Risk Assessment and Financing Initiative. 2015. PCRAFI GIS Database. Available at http://pcrafi.sopac.org (accessed August 2015).Google Scholar
Patou, M.L., McLenachan, P.A., Morley, C.G., Couloux, A., Jennings, A.P., and Veron, G. 2009. “Molecular Phylogeny of the Herpestidae (Mammalia, Carnivora) with a Special Emphasis on the Asian Herpestes.” Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 53(1): 69–80 (doi: 10.1016/j.ympev.2009.05.038).Google Scholar
Pautu, N., and Warburton, B. 2005. “Effectiveness of the DOC 150, 200, and 250 Traps for Killing Stoats, Ferrets, Norway Rats, Ship Rats, and Hedgehogs.” Lincoln, New Zealand: Landcare Research. Google Scholar
Peters, D., Wilson, L., Mosher, S., Rohrer, J., Hanley, J., Nadig, A., Silbernagle, M., and Nishimoto, M. 2011. “Small Indian Mongoose: Management and Eradication Using Doc 250 Kill Traps, First Lessons from Hawaii.” In Veitch, C.R., Clout, M.N., and Towns, D.R., eds., Island Invasives: Eradication and Management. Gland, Switzerland: IUCN.Google Scholar
Pimentel, D. 1955. “The Control of the Mongoose in Puerto Rico.” The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 4(1): 147–151.Google Scholar
Secretariat of the Pacific Community. 2013. “Pacific Regional Statistics.” Available at www.spc.int/prism (accessed August 2015).Google Scholar
Simberloff, D., and Rejmánek, M. (eds.). 2011. The Encyclopedia of Biological Invasions. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Thulin, C.G., Simberloff, D., Barun, A., McCracken, G., Pascal, M., and Islam, M.A. 2006. “Genetic Divergence in the Small Indian Mongoose (Herpestes auropunctatus), a Widely Distributed Invasive Species.” Molecular Ecology 15(13): 3947–3956.Google Scholar
Tomich, Q.P. 1969. “Movement Patterns of the Mongoose in Hawaii.” Journal of Wildlife Management 33: 576–584.Google Scholar
Veitch, C.R., Clout, M.N., and Towns, D.R. (eds.). 2011. Island Invasives: Eradication and Management. Gland, Switzerland: IUCN and Auckland, New Zealand: Centre for Biodiversity and Biosecurity.Google Scholar
Veron, G., Patou, M-L., Pothet, G., Simberloff, D., and Jennings, A.P. 2007. “Systematic Status and Biogeography of the Javan and Small Indian Mongooses (Herpestidae, Carnivora).” Zoologica Scripta 36(1): 1–10.Google Scholar
Veron, G., Patou, M-L., Simberloff, D., McLenachan, P.A., and Morley, C.G. 2009. “The Indian Brown Mongoose, Yet Another Invader in Fiji.” Biological Invasions 12(7): 1947–1951 (doi: 10.1007/s10530-009-9616-z).Google Scholar
Watling, D. 2001. A Guide to the Birds of Fiji and Western Polynesia, Including American Samoa, Niue, Samoa, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Wallis and Fortuna. Suva, Fiji: Environmental Consultants (Fiji) Ltd. Google Scholar
Watling, D., Wynn, A., and Zug, G.R. 2010. “Rediscovery of the Taveuni Blind Snake.” Oryx 44(2): 165–170 (doi: 10.1017/S0030605310000219).Google Scholar
Yamada, F. 2011. “Impacts and Control of Introduced Small Indian Mongoose on Amami Island, Japan.” In Veitch, C.R., and Clout, M.N., eds., Turning the Tide: The Eradication of Invasive Species. Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK: IUCN.Google Scholar