Girish Mahajan (Editor)

Bornean ferret badger

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Kingdom
  
Animalia

Order
  
Carnivora

Genus
  
Melogale

Higher classification
  
Ferret-badger

Phylum
  
Chordata

Family
  
Mustelidae

Scientific name
  
Melogale everetti

Rank
  
Species

Bornean ferret-badger cdn1arkiveorgmedia6969070FB6361848CBAE365

Similar
  
Ferret‑badger, Indonesian mountain weasel, Burmese ferret‑badger, Malayan weasel, Patagonian weasel

The Bornean ferret-badger (Melogale everetti), also known as Everett's ferret-badger or the Kinabalu ferret-badger, is a member of the family Mustelidae. The scientific name commemorates British colonial administrator and zoological collector Alfred Hart Everett.

It is nocturnal and mostly carnivorous but may eat some plants; with their diet including insects, snails, earthworms, lizards, small birds and rats (including carcasses) and fruit. Given its varied diet, it was recorded foraging in a small roadside dump site in 2003. The only known conservation measures are that it is protected by Sabah Wildlife Conservation Enactment 1997 as "Melogale personata" and it occurs in Kinabalu Park.

Distribution and habitat

This species of ferret-badger is only known with certainty from the highland forests on Mount Kinabalu and nearby regions in Sabah, Malaysia, but is suspected to occur elsewhere on Borneo, including Brunei, Kalimantan (to Indonesia) and Sarawak (to Malaysia). Their biggest threat is habitat loss through the rapid deforestation in Borneo.

References

Bornean ferret-badger Wikipedia