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Summary A population of approximately 100 banded mongooses living in six packs was studied for over 2 years in Rwenzori National Park, Uganda. The packs were relatively stable, cohesive social units composed of approximately equal numbers of males and females and varied in size from six to thirty‐five adults and subadults. Breeding was synchronized within the packs with several females producing their litters at approximately the same time. The packs bred up to four times per year. Mortality of animals over 6 months old was approximately 10% annually. Less than 50% of juveniles survived to the age of 3 months. The banded mongoose feeds primarily on invertebrates, particularly millipedes and beetles. Ants, crickets, termites and earwigs are also important elements of the diet. Vertebrate remains were found in 12% of the droppings analysed. Although the pack forages as a unit each individual finds its own food. The mean home range size of five of the packs was 80‐4 ha; the two largest packs had ranges exceeding 1 km2. The banded mongoose is strictly diurnal typically leaving a den in the hour following sunrise and returning a few minutes before sunset with a prolonged rest during the heat of the day. Dens were in termite mounds (usually in thicket clumps), erosion gullies, aardvark holes and occasionally in man‐made structures. Most were used for only a few days and then abandoned but a few preferred dens were occupied for periods up to 54 days and re‐used repeatedly. Interactions between packs were aggressive and appeared to function in spacing the packs. The result of an encounter depended upon pack size with larger packs dominating smaller ones; the area of occurrence did not appear to affect the outcome. Mating between packs was observed during aggressive encounters. Group life is of adaptive significance in protecting the individual from predators and in care of the young. The pack bunches around young mongooses when disturbed and also bunches to attack certain predators and competitors. One or more adults remain at the den to guard the young when the pack forages.

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The breeding characteristics of three species of wild guineapig (F. Caviidae) are reported. Cavia aperea, Galea musteloides and Microcavia australis were studied in Argentina in the field and in outdoor pens, and laboratory colonies of the two former species were also established in England. Pens of domestic guinea-pigs (Cavia porcellus) and of C. aperea \m=x\C. porcellus hybrids were maintained in Argentina for comparisons with C. aperea. C. aperea and G. musteloides gave birth in every month but there was a breeding peak in spring (September to December). Microcavia had a more restricted breeding season ; in the field study area, births occurred only between August and April. Gestation length in C. aperea was variable but the mode was at 61 days, while the modes of Galea and Microcavia were much shorter at 53 and 54 days, respectively. All three species exhibited a post-partum oestrus and Galea may experience a lactation anoestrus. Oestrous cycle lengths in C. aperea and Galea varied considerably but the mean length in Cavia was 20\m=.\6\m=+-\0\m=.\8 days and in Galea it was 22\m=.\3\m=+-\1 \ m=. \ 4 days; in the latter species, the presence of a male in the same cage was necessary for the induction of oestrus. Average litter size was 2\m=.\2for C. aperea, 2\m=.\6for Galea and 2\m=.\8for Microcavia. In the Argentine colonies, the age at first conception in C. aperea and Galea varied with the time of year of birth, but this variation was not maintained under the more equable laboratory conditions.