FERRET-BADGERS: CHARACTERISTICS, BEHAVIOR, SPECIES

FERRET-BADGERS

Formosan ferret-badger

Ferret-badgers are six species of mammals within the genus Melogale, which is the only genus of the monotypic mustelid subfamily Helictidinae. Mustelids carnivores and they include weasels, badgers, otters, polecats, martens, and wolverines. Ferret-badgers have a ferret-like face and head compared to regular badgers — hence their name. [Sources: Wikipedia; Rosie Clarke, Animal Diversity Web (ADW) /=]

The six ferret-badger species are: 1) Chinese ferret-badger (Melogale moschata); 2) Formosan ferret-badger (Melogale subaurantiaca); 3) Burmese ferret-badger (Melogale personata); 4) Vietnam ferret-badger (Melogale cucphuongensis); 5) Bornean ferret-badger (Melogale everetti) and 6) Javan ferret-badger (Melogale orientalis). Javan ferret-badgers are very similar in appearance to Bornean ferret-badgers and large-toothed ferret-badgers Ferret-badgers' taxonomy has a confusing history due to species group heterogeneity. In the past, Javan, Bornean and large-toothed ferret-badgers were sometimes considered the same species.

Ferret-badgers for the most part are not listed as threatened or endangered largely because there is not very much data on them. It can be assumed that habitat destruction, degradation due to deforestation and encroachments by humans has negatively affected them and may have lowered their numbers. Ferret badgers is hunted and trapped in southeast Asia as a source of food, fur, and medicines used by the local people.

Ferret-Badger Characteristics, Behavior and Reproduction

Ferret-badgers have long bushy tail, large ears, and a slender body. Their short legs, broad paws and large claws claws are designed for digging like typical badger. However, all ferret badgers, have partially webbed toes and ridges on the pads of their feet, which are believed to be adaptations for climbing. A defining characteristic of a ferret badger is the white or yellowish ferret-like mask on their face. A stripe on the back is also present that can range in color from white to red. The rest of the body can range from grey-brown to dark black with a lighter under side.

Chinese Ferret-badger

Ferret-badgers are terricolous (live on the ground), nocturnal (active at night), motile (move around as opposed to being stationary) and solitary. They fiercely defend themselves if attacked and also emit a strong odorous secretion from their anal glands. Information on the social organizations, home ranges and territories of ferret badgers is limited . One study found that male ferret badgers have home ranges that are large enough to encompass the ranges of several females, approximately four to nine hectares. Scientists believe that males and females are solitary except during the breeding season or when females are with young.

Female ferret-badgers are often able to reproduce any time of the year. Males, however, undergo a period of non-reproduction, during which — from around September to December — they cease to produce sperm. Females give birth to litters of one to five offspring after a gestation of 57 to 80 days, with the average number of offspring being two or three. Ferret badgers do not employ delayed implantation (a condition in which a fertilized egg reaches the uterus but delays its implantation in the uterine lining, sometimes for several months). Young are usually born in May and June. They are born relatively helpless with their eyes closed. Their eyes open after about two weeks. Mothers care for their young in a burrow until they are able to forage for themselves. They are weaned between two and three months of age. It is believed that females do all or nearly all of the parental duties.

Chinese Ferret-Badger

Chinese ferret badgers (Melogale moschata) are the smallest badger. They are found from Assam to central China and northern Southeast Asia as well as in Taiwan, and China’s Hainan Island. They favor tropical and subtropical forests, but can also be found in grasslands. In captivity, they live around 10 years. One individual lived for 17 years. [Source: Robert Seefeldt, Animal Diversity Web (ADW) /=]

Chinese ferret-badger range

Chinese ferret badgers is an omnivores (eat a variety of things, including plants and animals). Animal foods include earthworms, rodents, other small mammals, amphibians, and insects. They occasionally eat fruit. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List classifies Chinese ferret badgers as a species of “Least Concern”. In CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild) they have no special status. Some people like to have these animals around because they feed cockroaches and certain pest insects people don’t like. Members of the Bhotia and the Lepha tribes in the Himalayan regions of northeast India, Nepal, Bhut and southern Tibet encourage Chinese ferret badgers to come into their dwellings

Chinese ferret badgers range in weight from one to three kilograms (2.2 to 6.6 pounds). They have a head and body length that ranges from 30 to 40 centimeters (11.8 to 15.75 inches). Their backside has phases that vary from dark chocolate-brown, to fawn-brown, to grayish-brown. Their underside can vary from white to orange. Their face is black with a white forehead, which borders a dark, variable "mask." Their fur is short. There usually is a stripe down the middle of the back and a spot on the crown of the head. They also have elongated, strong fore claws needed for digging. /=\

Chinese ferret badgers are nocturnal (active at night), motile (move around as opposed to being stationary) and sedentary (remain in the same area). They sense using touch and chemicals usually detected with smell. Their home ranges are typically from four to nine hectares in size. Some live in holes they either dug themselves or were excavated by other animals, whereas others live in rock crevices. They have claws that are good for climbing trees, and often sleep in the branches of trees.

Chinese ferret badgers engage in year-round breeding. Young can be born at any time of the year but often they arrive in May or June and again in September and October. On average, two to three cubs are born and born and raised in burrows until they weaned at two to three months of age. Young are altricial. This means that young are born relatively underdeveloped and are unable to feed or care for themselves or move independently for a period of time after birth. Parental care is largely taken care of by females.

Burmese Ferret-Badgers

Burmese ferret-badger range

Burmese ferret-badgers (Melogale personata) are also known as the large-toothed ferret-badgers. They live in forests, savannas, or grasslands in Nepal, north-eastern India, Myanmar, southern China, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and Cambodia. Burmese ferret badgers was first described in 1831 by Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire. Ferret-badgers found on Java were long thought to be a subspecies of Burmese ferret badgers but now are regarded as separate species. Their lifespan in captivity has up to 10 years. On the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List Burmese ferret badgers are listed as Data Deficient. In CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild) they have no special status.[Source: Rosie Clarke, Animal Diversity Web (ADW) /=]

Burmese ferret badgers are primarily omnivores (eat a variety of things, including plants and animals). Animal foods include young rats, other rodents, other small mammals, frogs, toads, other amphibians, reptiles, eggs, carrion, insects, terrestrial non-insect arthropods, mollusks and worms. Among the plant foods they eat are leaves fruit The Burmese ferret badger forages primarily on the ground, but they do spend some time in trees hunting insects and snails. They haver larger teeth than the other ferret badgers and these are used for crushing hard shelled insects and snails. Burmese ferret badgers are fond of cockroaches, grasshoppers, and earthworms.

Burmese ferret badgers are small. They range in weight from one to three kilograms (2.2 to 6.6 pounds) and have a head and body length that ranges from 33 to 43 centimeters (13 to 16.9 inches). Their bushy tails are between 15 and 21 centimeters (5.9 to 8.3 inches) long. According to Animal Diversity Web: Burmese ferret badgers have grayish to brownish fur with a lighter fur on their underside. They have white heads with black markings including a black band across their muzzle and another across the forehead between their ears. Burmese ferret badgers have thinner black stripes on their face than the Chinese ferret badger. The white dorsal stripe of the Burmese ferret badger runs from its head to the base of the tail. This distinguishes it from the Chinese ferret badger because in the Chinese species the dorsal stripe does not reach the base of the tail (Jackson 2001). /=\

Burmese ferret badgers are primarily nocturnal. However, they have limited day activity usually focused around dawn and dusk and lasting no more than a few hours. Burmese ferret badgers spend most of the day sleeping in a burrow or natural shelter. They do not dig their own holes to create burrows, instead they use preexisting burrows. They sense using touch and chemicals usually detected with smell. /

Researchers in Thailand reproted the average litter size of Burmese ferret badgers is three young. They are born in burrows, just before the rainy season. They are fed in the burrow for two to three weeks by their mother. Beyond this little is known about the reproductive behavior of Burmese ferret badgers

Javan Ferret-Badgers

range of the Javan ferret-badger

Javan ferret-badgers (Melogale orientalis) occurr only on the Indonesian islands of Java and Bali. There have been few documented sightings of these animals in the wild — almost all in forests — suggesting they are dependent on primary forest. A few sightings have been recorded in secondary forest and rubber plantations. Other records show them in thick undergrowth of primary montane forests and on the hills and mountains at elevations of 1,360 to 2,000 meters (4,461 to 6560 feet) of both Java and Bali but not the plains. [Source: Kristin Denryter, Animal Diversity Web (ADW) /=]

Javan ferret-badgers are primarily omnivores (eat a variety of things, including plants and animals). Animal foods include birds, mammals, amphibians eggs carrion terrestrial non-insect arthropods. Among the plant foods they eat are fruit. They forage at night, often digging through leaf litter (sometimes in groups) and are known to scavenge picnic sites.

On the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List Javan ferret-badgers are listed as Data Deficient. In CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild) they have no special status. Javan ferret-badgers are restricted to small areas on Java and Bali and are threatened habitat loss, deforestation and human intrusions. They traded on the illegal wildlife pet market.

Javan Ferret-Badger Characteristics

Javan ferret-badgers are small slender-bodied carnivores. They range in weight from one to two kilograms (2.2 to 4.4 pounds) and have a head and body length that ranges from 35 to 40 centimeters (13.8 to 15.75 inches). Their tail is 14.5 to 17 centimeters (5.7 to 6.7 inches) long. There are possibly two subspecies of Javan ferret-badgers distinguished by geographic location — one in eastern Java and the other in western Java. The eastern subspecies is typically larger than the western subspecies. [Source: Kristin Denryter, Animal Diversity Web (ADW) /=]

range of the Bornean ferret-badger

Kristin Denryter wrote in Animal Diversity Web: Javan ferret-badgers have small heads and faces that taper to a thick nose. Their upper and lower jaws are the same length, but the upper jaw appears to extend past the end of the lower jaw. Their nose has nostrils opening on the front and a mustache below that contains vibrissae extending posteriorly.

Their eyes are prominent and sit medially between their ears and nose. Their limbs are slender and end at a five-toed foot, with one claw per toe. Claws are concavely curved and longer on the forefeet than on the hind feet, the claws on the middle digit are the longest. The middle digit is the longest, followed by shorter (but equal length) toes on the second and fourth digits, and the thumb and fifth digit are the shortest, but equal in length. Anterior extremities are approximately 11.5 centimeters long and posterior extremities are about 12.7 centimeters long. /=\

Javan ferret-badgers have silky brown fur, with reddish tints, but may appear gray and tawny depending on ambient light. In addition to a white spot and lateral patches on their head and face, Javan ferret-badgers have white markings (sometimes with yellow tints) on their neck, throat, breast and abdomen. A band of dark brown fur extends from behind their eyes, down their throat, and behind their ears, eventually connecting with their ear lobes. A transverse band of gray fur covers their face between the eyes up the crown of their head. Both ears and their upper jaw have white fur borders. /=\

Javan Ferret-Badger Behavior and Reproduction

Javan ferret-badgers are terricolous (live on the ground), arboreal (live in trees), fossorial (engaged in a burrowing life-style or behavior, and good at digging or burrowing), nocturnal (active at night), motile (move around as opposed to being stationary) and social (associates with others of its species; forms social groups). Most Ferret-badgers use preexisting holes rather than expending energy to create new holes. Adult-juvenile groups of Javan ferret-badgers forage together between dusk and dawn. /=\

Javan ferret-badgers communicate with chemicals usually detected by smelling and sense using touch and chemicals usually detected with smell. As is the case with other mustelids, Javan ferret-badgers may use anal scent glands and associated pheromones (chemicals released into air or water that are detected by and responded to by other animals of the same species) for communication. /=\

There is little information about the reproductive habits of Javan ferret-badgers. Sightings of small groups of juveniles and adults foraging together may suggest some type of communal or social breeding system. Otherwise, what is described is largely based on other species. Chinese ferret-badgers and Burmese ferret-badgers typically breed in March, with births occuring in May and June, and sometimes as late as December.

Formosan ferret-badgers have an extended breeding season from February to September, with full reproductive physiological activity in February to March. The average litters for Chinese and Burmese ferret-badgers range from one to four young. Young Javan ferret-badgers are likely altricial. This means that young are born relatively underdeveloped and are unable to feed or care for themselves or move independently for a period of time after birth. Chinese ferret badger newborns don’t open their eyes for two weeks after birth.

Bornean Ferret-Badger

Bornean ferret-badgers(Melogale everetti) are also known as Everett’s ferret-badgers. They are found only in tropical rainforests and mountain areas on 4,101-meter (13,455-foot) -high Mt. Kinabalu in Sabah, Malaysia in northeastern part of the island of Borneo at elevations of 1,000 to 3,000 meters (3,280 to 9842 feet). [Source: Nicole Edmison, Animal Diversity Web (ADW) /=]

All ferret-badgers are omnivorous, with animal foods including worms, birds, mammals, amphibians, reptiles, eggs, carrion, insects and non-insect arthropods. Among the plant foods they eat are fruit. On the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List Bornean ferret-badgers are listed as Data Deficient. In CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild) they have no special status. They live in a very small area but fortunately for them their range lies mostly in protected national park and this park — Mount Kinabalu National Park — is a popular tourist destination and thus is well protected and funded.

Bornean ferret-badgers are small and long compared to other species of ferret badger species. They range in weight from one to three kilograms (2.2 to 6.6 pounds) and have a head and body length that ranges from 33 to 43 centimeters (12.99 to 16.93 inches). Their long, bushy tail is 15.2 to 23 centimeters (6 to 9 inches) in length. /=\

Bornean ferret-badgers are fossorial (engaged in a burrowing life-style or behavior, and good at digging or burrowing), nocturnal (active at night) and motile (move around as opposed to being stationary). When they aren’t foraging — usually at night or at disk — they are resting or sleeping in their burrows. They sense and communicate with vision, touch, sound and chemicals usually detected by smelling. Information on their mating system is not available but is perhaps similar to the species described above.

Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons

Text Sources: Animal Diversity Web animaldiversity.org ; National Geographic, Live Science, Natural History magazine, David Attenborough books, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Smithsonian magazine, Discover magazine, The New Yorker, Time, Reuters, Associated Press, AFP, Lonely Planet Guides, Wikipedia, The Guardian, Top Secret Animal Attack Files website and various books and other publications.

Last updated January 2025