The greater hog badger (''Arctonyx collaris'') is a very large terrestrial

mustelid The Mustelidae (; from Latin , weasel) are a diverse family of carnivoran mammals, including weasels, badgers, otters, polecats, martens, grisons, and wolverines. Otherwise known as mustelids (), they form the largest family in the suborde ...

native to

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

. It is listed as Vulnerable in the

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is an inventory of the global conservation status and extinction risk of biological spe ...

because the global population is thought to be declining due to high levels of

poaching Poaching is the illegal hunting or capturing of wild animals, usually associated with land use rights. Poaching was once performed by impoverished peasants for subsistence purposes and to supplement meager diets. It was set against the huntin ...

Taxonomy

It was formerly thought to be the only species in the genus ''

Arctonyx Hog badgers are three species of mustelid in the genus ''Arctonyx''. They represent one of the two genera in the subfamily Melinae, alongside the true badgers (genus ''Meles''). Taxonomy ''Arctonyx'' was formerly considered a monotypic genus ...

'', displaying heavy variation throughout its wide range, leading it to be classified as having many subspecies. However, a 2008 study found that ''Arctonyx'' should be split into three species. The following

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

were formerly recognized, but are now thought to be

conspecific Biological specificity is the tendency of a characteristic such as a behavior or a biochemical variation to occur in a particular species. Biochemist Linus Pauling stated that "Biological specificity is the set of characteristics of living organism ...

with little distinction between one another: * Greater hog badger ''A. c. collaris'' (Cuvier, 1825) – lives in the

Eastern Himalayas ] The Eastern Himalayas extend from eastern Nepal across Northeast India, Bhutan, the Tibet Autonomous Region to Yunnan in China and northern Myanmar. The climate of this region is influenced by the monsoon of South Asia from June to September. I ...

;Ellerman, J. R. and Morrison-Scott, T. C. S. (1966)
''Checklist of Palaearctic and Indian mammals 1758 to 1946''
Second edition. British Museum of Natural History, London. Pages 274–275. * Indochinese hog badger ''A. c. dictator'' ( Oldfield Thomas, Thomas, 1910) – lives in southern Thailand and Indochina; * Burmese hog badger ''A. c. consul'' ( Pocock, 1940) – occurs from

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

to Myanmar.

Description

The greater hog badger has medium-length brown hair, a stocky body, white throat, two black stripes on an elongated white snout, with a pink, pig-like nose. The snout-to-rump length is , the tail measures and the body weight is . With weights regularly reported between , it is one of the world's largest terrestrial extant mustelids (by average body mass). It is perhaps only second or third to the

wolverine The wolverine ( , ; ''Gulo gulo''), also called the carcajou or quickhatch (from East Cree, ''kwiihkwahaacheew''), is the largest land-dwelling species, member of the family Mustelidae. It is a muscular carnivore and a solitary animal. The w ...

, rivaling the

European badger The European badger (''Meles meles''), also known as the Eurasian badger, is a badger species in the family Mustelidae native to Europe and West Asia and parts of Central Asia. It is classified as least concern on the IUCN Red List, as it has a w ...

; However, hog badgers are not known to rival the weights of the European badger during autumn hyperphagia. A hog badger's appearance generally resembles the

, but having a pronounced pig-like snout, and with larger claws on the front feet. Its tail has long white hairs, and its front feet have white claws.

Distribution and habitat

The greater hog badger is considered fairly common in

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

and most of

mainland Southeast Asia Mainland Southeast Asia (historically known as Indochina and the Indochinese Peninsula) is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to th ...

, living in

tropical evergreen forest Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests (TSMF), also known as tropical moist forest, is a subtropical and tropical forest habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). Description TSMF is generally found in large ...

s and grasslands. They are also to be found in the

Terai The Terai or Tarai is a lowland region in parts of southern Nepal and northern India that lies to the south of the outer foothills of the Himalayas, the Sivalik Hills and north of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. This lowland belt is characterised by ...

of the

Indian Subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...

; from the

Yamuna River The Yamuna (; ) is the second-largest tributary river of the Ganges by discharge and the longest tributary in List of major rivers of India, India. Originating from the Yamunotri Glacier at a height of about on the southwestern slopes of B ...

east, through the states of

Haryana Haryana () is a States and union territories of India, state located in the northern part of India. It was carved out after the linguistic reorganisation of Punjab, India, Punjab on 1 November 1966. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with les ...

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand (, ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2007), is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. The state is bordered by Himachal Pradesh to the n ...

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

and

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

. The range also encompasses areas of lower Himalayan foothills in parts of

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

Bhutan Bhutan, officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked country in South Asia, in the Eastern Himalayas between China to the north and northwest and India to the south and southeast. With a population of over 727,145 and a territory of , ...

, and

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

, in addition to the

Brahmaputra River The Brahmaputra is a trans-boundary river which flows through Southwestern China, Northeastern India, and Bangladesh. It is known as Brahmaputra or Luit in Assamese language, Assamese, Yarlung Tsangpo in Lhasa Tibetan, Tibetan, the Siang/Dihan ...

basin. Its distribution in

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

is considered patchy.

Behaviour and ecology

The hog badger is active by day and not very wary of humans. Analysis of numerous

camera trap A camera trap is a camera that is automatically triggered by motion in its vicinity, like the presence of an animal or a human being. It is typically equipped with a motion sensor—usually a passive infrared (PIR) sensor or an active infrared ...

pictures from

show no peak activity at either day or night. The hog badger is

omnivorous An omnivore () is an animal that regularly consumes significant quantities of both plant and animal matter. Obtaining energy and nutrients from plant and animal matter, omnivores digest carbohydrates, protein, fat, and fiber, and metabolize ...

; its diet consists of fruits, roots and small animals. A study conducted in Laos found that the native

clouded leopard The clouded leopard (''Neofelis nebulosa''), also called mainland clouded leopard, is a wild cat inhabiting dense forests from the foothills of the Himalayas through Northeast India and Bhutan to mainland Southeast Asia into South China. It w ...

s eat a large proportion of greater hog badgers, accounting for 28% of their diet.

References

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q744382 Badgers Carnivorans of Malaysia Mammals described in 1825 Taxa named by Frédéric Cuvier Mammals of China Mammals of India Mammals of Indonesia Mammals of Laos Mammals of Myanmar Mammals of Thailand Mammals of Cambodia Mammals of Vietnam