The Javan ferret-badger (''Melogale orientalis'') is a

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 ...

endemic to

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

and

Bali Bali (English:; Balinese language, Balinese: ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller o ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

. It is listed as

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

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 an inventory of the global conservation status and extinction risk of biological ...

and occurs from at least elevation in or close to forested areas.

Description

An adult Javan ferret-badger weighs between with a body length of and a tail of . The head is small with a narrow, blunt snout, long whiskers and large eyes. The body is low-slung with brown silky fur tinged with red and in some lights looks tawny or greyish. The back of the head and throat are darker brown and there are white markings on the face, neck, throat, chest and abdomen.

Distribution and habitat

The Javan ferret-badger is endemic to the islands of Java and Bali in Indonesia. Its exact range is unknown, but it is present in hilly and mountainous areas and may also occur at lower altitudes. In western Java, it has been observed in

Mount Halimun Salak National Park Mount Halimun Salak National Park is a 400 km2 conservation area in the Indonesian province of West Java on the island of Java. Established in 1992, the park comprises two mountains, Mount Salak and Mount Halimun with an 11-kilometer forest ...

and in Gunung Gede Pangrango National Park. In Bali, it has been recorded

primary forest An old-growth forest or primary forest is a forest that has developed over a long period of time without Disturbance (ecology), disturbance. Due to this, old-growth forests exhibit unique ecological features. The Food and Agriculture Organizati ...

on a forest track at an elevation of and in an area of

secondary forest A secondary forest (or second-growth forest) is a forest or woodland area which has regenerated through largely natural processes after human-caused Disturbance (ecology), disturbances, such as Logging, timber harvest or agriculture clearing, or ...

and

rubber plantation Plantations are farms specializing in cash crops, usually mainly planting a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Plantations, centered on a plantation house, grow crops including cotton, cannabis, tobacco ...

s not far from human habitations. Javan ferret badgers have been recorded in the wild in just 30 localities in the Province of Banten, West Java, Central Java, Yogyakarta, East Java and on Bali.

Behaviour and ecology

Like other ferret-badgers, the Javan ferret-badger is a

fossorial A fossorial animal () is one that is adapted to digging and which lives primarily (but not solely) underground. Examples of fossorial vertebrates are Mole (animal), moles, badgers, naked mole-rats, meerkats, armadillos, wombats, and mole salamand ...

animal that makes use of pre-existing burrows in the

forest floor The forest floor, also called detritus or wikt:duff#Noun 2, duff, is the part of a forest ecosystem that mediates between the living, aboveground portion of the forest and the mineral soil, principally composed of dead and decaying plant matter ...

. It is mainly

nocturnal Nocturnality is a ethology, behavior in some non-human animals characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnality, diurnal meaning the opposite. Nocturnal creatur ...

, and small groups of adults and juveniles forage together. It is often found in dense undergrowth and it may be able to scramble about in trees and bushes. Its diet is mainly

carnivorous A carnivore , or meat-eater (Latin, ''caro'', genitive ''carnis'', meaning meat or "flesh" and ''vorare'' meaning "to devour"), is an animal or plant whose nutrition and energy requirements are met by consumption of animal tissues (mainly mu ...

and consists of small animals, birds, amphibians, eggs, carrion and invertebrates, and it also eats fruit. Data from litters offered for sale on online platforms suggests a peak in breeding from December to March In the Gunung Gede Pangrango National Park, Javan ferret-badgers seem fairly common and have been observed scavenging for food scraps after nightfall at picnic areas and turning over the

leaf litter Plant litter (also leaf litter, tree litter, soil litter, litterfall, or duff) is dead plant material (such as leaves, bark, needles, twigs, and cladodes) that has fallen to the ground. This detritus or dead organic material and its constituen ...

. They seemed undisturbed by the presence of humans and one young individual even fed on

biscuit A biscuit is a flour-based baked food item. Biscuits are typically hard, flat, and unleavened. They are usually sweet and may be made with sugar, chocolate, icing, jam, ginger, or cinnamon. They can also be savoury, similar to crackers. ...

s held out on an observer's hand.

Threats and conservation

Much of Java's primary forest has been fragmented and degraded. However, the Javan ferret-badger is thought to be at least partially adaptable to habitat changes, as it has been recorded in secondary forests and plantations. Over a ten-year period from 2011 to 2020, Javan ferret badgers were observed offered for sale in eleven wildlife markets on Java and Bali, and on several online platforms.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q912020 Melogale Mammals of Indonesia Mammals described in 1888 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot