Dietary habits of the Black-legged mongoose Bdeogale nigripes (Mammalia: Carnivora) in the rainforest of Southeastern Nigeria

Abstract

The Black-legged mongoose Bdeogale nigripes is a poorly studied carnivore (family Herperstidae) found only in Central African rainforests. In Southeastern Nigeria, its known range is strictly limited to the localities close to the Cameroon border and just east of the Cross River. This article reports some original data on the diet of B. nigripes, the first objectively positive data on this species according to the analysis of their stomach contents. Moreover, these are the first data collected in Nigeria, including the first known record west of the Cross River. B. nigripes seems to be slowly expanding its range westward. Most of its prey were vertebrates, mainly mammals, followed by reptiles and birds. Invertebrate prey was also found, mainly insects, followed by centipedes. In terms of their frequency of occurrence, insects and other arthropods (50.48%) were consumed significantly more often than any other type of prey. Both arthropods (88.88%) and mammals (88.88%) were almost always present in the examined stomachs. Larger prey (mammals), such as Cricetomys emini (1.9% of the total number of prey) and Xerus erythropus (0.95%) were occasionally preyed upon, as well as small snakes (1.9%). Comparing these results with the limited information available thus far, it is evident that there are more prey taxa, in addition to food categories, than previously estimated, and overall this demonstrates that arthropods and mammals are the most commonly consumed prey, the first because they are certainly more numerous, while the latter are far more significant in terms of biomass. In fact, the analysis indicates that mammals (79.21%), and especially large rodents (59.23%), were the main contributors in terms of biomass. Conversely, small prey, in particular arthropods, some of which are tiny, are of decidedly low trophic significance (5.43%).