The back-striped weasel (''Mustela strigidorsa''), also called the stripe-backed weasel, is a

weasel Weasels are mammals of the genus ''Mustela'' of the family Mustelidae. The genus ''Mustela'' includes the least weasels, polecats, stoats, ferrets and European mink. Members of this genus are small, active predators, with long and slender b ...

widely distributed in

Southeastern Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainland ...

. It is listed as

Least Concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

on the

IUCN Red List 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 the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...

in view of its presumed large population, occurrence in many protected areas, apparent tolerance to some degree of habitat modification and hunting pressure.

Characteristics

The back-striped weasel is distinguished from all other '' Mustela'' species by the presence of a narrow, silvery dorsal streak extending from the

occiput The occipital bone () is a cranial dermal bone and the main bone of the occiput (back and lower part of the skull). It is trapezoidal in shape and curved on itself like a shallow dish. The occipital bone overlies the occipital lobes of the cereb ...

almost to the root of the tail, with a corresponding yellowish ventral streak from the chest along the abdomen. The general colour of the dorsal surface varies from deep to paler chocolate brown, sometimes a little paler on the head and usually slightly darkened along the side of the dorsal streak. The tail and limbs are of the same hue as the back. The upper lip from the rhinarium, the chin and the throat up to the level of the ears are pale varying from whitish to ochreous. On the hind throat and fore chest, the pale hue gradually narrows in extent, and is quite narrow between the forelegs, where it passes into the ventral streak, which expands on the inguinal region between thighs. The pads of the feet are well developed, the plantar ads being four-lobed, with the area around them entirely naked. The bushy tail is rather long, being more than half the length of the head and body. The length of head and body of males is , while the tail length is . A live-captured juvenile male was estimated to weigh only .

Distribution and habitat

The occurrence of the stripe-backed weasel has been confirmed from scattered localities in and around northeastern

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, northern and central

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

, southern China, northern

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

, northern and central Laos and

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

at an elevation range from sea level to . It inhabits a wide variety of habitats, and it is not yet possible to define its habitat needs. Specimens collected came from dense hill jungle, hill

evergreen forest An evergreen forest is a forest made up of evergreen trees. They occur across a wide range of climatic zones, and include trees such as conifers and holly in cold climates, eucalyptus, Live oak, acacias, magnolia, and banksia in more temperate zo ...

, disturbed evergreen forest, lower montane evergreen forest and lowland evergreen forest. Most field sightings were in daylight. In India, it was recorded in

Dampa Tiger Reserve Dampa Tiger Reserve or Dampha Tiger Reserve is a tiger reserve of western Mizoram, India. It covers an area of about in the Lushai Hills at an altitude range of . It was declared a tiger reserve in 1994 and is part of Project Tiger. The tropic ...

in 1994, and in Namdapha National Park. In Laos, two individuals were sighted in 2008, both near streams in

Nakai–Nam Theun Nakai-Nam Theun National Park in Nakai District, Khammouane Province, Laos, is one of the last remaining wildernesses in Southeast Asia. Nakai-Nam Theun covers approximately 4,270 km2 of the Annamite Range and the adjacent Nakai Plateau in ...

National Biodiversity Conservation Area.

Ecology and behavior

In the Naga Hills, one was seen fighting with a large bandicoot rat.

Threats

The back-striped weasel is potentially threatened by snares placed in its habitat, which target small edible wildlife.

Conservation

The back-striped weasel is protected in Thailand and nationally listed as Endangered in China.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1142024 back-striped weasel Mammals of Southeast Asia Mammals of China Mammals of Laos Mammals of Thailand Mammals of Vietnam Fauna of Sikkim Fauna of Eastern Himalaya Fauna of Yunnan back-striped weasel back-striped weasel