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Order : CARNIVORA
Family : Mustelidae
Species : Melogale everetti
Head-body length : up to 31 cm
Tail length : up to 14 cm
(Source : Phillipps & Phillipps, 2016)
Weight : up to 3 kg Melogale
everetti (Bornean Ferret Badger) is one of five species of ferret badger
which occur in Southeast Asia; a sixth species occurs on the island of
Taiwan.
Melogale
everetti is categorised as Endangered by the International Union for
Conservation of Nature (IUCN) (Wilting et al, 2015). It is a Bornean endemic,
and is only recorded from
parts of the Malaysian state of Sabah in the northeast of the island,
including the Crocker Range and on Mount Kinabalu (Phillipps &
Phillipps, 2016). Its range is known to extend to adjacent districts.
Its habitat comprises evergreen hill and montane forest or adjacent
scrubland, between 300 and 3,000 metres elevation (Wilting et al, 2015).
Ferret badgers are relatively small mustelids, weighing just a few
kilograms, and Melogale everetti is one of the smallest. It has a pointed snout, a relatively
elongated body, short legs, broad feet and a bushy tail. Its ears are small
and rounded. Its fur colour is
dark grey to brownish grey; this is paler underneath, and there is also a pale mask
across its
face. There is a distinctive narrow line of white fur extending from the top of the head to
between the shoulders.
This is a burrow-dwelling, nocturnal mammal; it reportedly utilises vacant
burrows of the Long-tailed Porcupine
(Trichys fasciculata) (Phillipps & Phillipps, 2016).
The diet of this elusive mammal comprises soft-bodied invertebrates such as
worms, which it can dig up with its sharp claws, lizards, rats and small
birds (Payne & Francis, 1998).
Within the family Mustelidae, ferret badgers appear to be more closely
related to martens, such as the Yellow-throated
Marten (Martes flavigula) than to hog badgers, such as the Greater
Hog Badger (Arctonyx collaris), and to 'true badgers' (genus Meles).
Figs 1 and 2 : An example glimpsed at night at the edge of a forest
road at Mount Kinabalu, Sabah at an estimated elevation of 1,700 metres. Photos thanks to Shivaram Rasu
Fig 3 : Typical scrub forest on the slopes of Mount Kinabalu, Sabah,
which is prime habitat for the Bornean Ferret Badger.
References :
Payne, J., Francis, C.M., 1998. A Field Guide to the Mammals of
Borneo. The Sabah Society.
Phillipps Q. & Phillipps K. (2016). Phillipps’ Field Guide to the
Mammals of Borneo and Their Ecology: Sabah, Sarawak, Brunei, and Kalimantan.
Second Edition. John Beaufoy Publishing. 400 pp.
Wilting, A., Duckworth, J.W., Hearn, A. & Ross, J. 2015. Melogale
everetti. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2015:
e.T13110A45199541.
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