These Mongoose Mentors Are Teaching Pups Survival Skills

This adult and “mini-me” banded mongoose pair has a very special relationship. The adult essentially serves as a nanny and role model for the pup. For the first two to three months of a pup’s life, it “shadows” an unrelated adult from its social group.

The adult, called an “escort,” carries and feeds the pup until the pup can find its own food. Researchers at Exeter University recently found that not only do the mentors teach the pups to forage, but the specific behaviours last a lifetime.