The Sunda stink badger (''Mydaus javanensis''), also called the Javan stink badger, teledu, Malay stink badger, Malay badger, Indonesian stink badger and Sunda skunk, is a mammal native to

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, ...

and

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

. Despite the common name,

stink badger Stink badgers or false badgers are the species of the genus ''Mydaus'' of the skunk family of carnivorans, the Mephitidae. They resemble the better-known members of the family Mustelidae also termed 'badgers' (which are themselves a polyphyleti ...

s are not closely related to true

badger Badgers are medium-sized short-legged omnivores in the superfamily Musteloidea. Badgers are a polyphyletic rather than a natural taxonomic grouping, being united by their squat bodies and adaptions for fossorial activity rather than by the ...

s, and are, instead, Old World relatives of the

skunk Skunks are mammals in the family Mephitidae. They are known for their ability to spray a liquid with a strong, unpleasant scent from their anal glands. Different species of skunk vary in appearance from black-and-white to brown, cream or gi ...

s. Coincidentally, its local name ''sigung'' in Sundanese is a

false cognate False cognates are pairs of words that seem to be cognates because of similar sounds or spelling and meaning, but have different etymologies; they can be within the same language or from different languages, even within the same family. For exampl ...

to ''skunk'' which is of Algonquian origin.

Description

Sunda stink badgers have a similar body shape to badgers, but are significantly smaller, being in total length, and weighing from . Their fur is coarse, and black or very dark brown over most of the body, with a white stripe running from the top of the head to the tail. The tail is short, measuring about , and is covered in pure white fur. The width of the stripe varies considerably between individuals, but is usually narrow, and may be discontinuous. As the name indicates, stink badgers have an anal

scent gland Scent gland are exocrine glands found in most mammals. They produce semi-viscous secretions which contain pheromones and other semiochemical compounds. These odor-messengers indicate information such as status, territorial marking, mood, and se ...

that secretes a foul-smelling substance, which the animal can spray up to . Females have six

teat A teat is the projection from the mammary glands of mammals from which milk flows or is ejected for the purpose of feeding young. In many mammals, the teat projects from the udder. The number of teats varies by mammalian species and often corr ...

Distribution and habitat

Named for the

Sunda Islands The Sunda Islands (; Tetun: ''Illa Sunda'') are a group of islands in the Indonesian Archipelago. They consist of the Greater Sunda Islands and the Lesser Sunda Islands. Etymology "Sunda" denotes the continental shelves or landmasses: the Sun ...

, Sunda stink badgers are found in

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 ...

Sumatra Sumatra () is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the list of islands by area, sixth-largest island in the world at 482,286.55 km2 (182,812 mi. ...

Borneo Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda ...

, and the northern

Natuna Islands Natuna Regency is an islands regency located in the northernmost part of the Province of Riau Islands, Indonesia. It contains at least 154 islands, of which 127 of them are reported as uninhabited. This archipelago, with a land area of 1,978.4 ...

. Sunda stink badgers can be found across a wide variety of habitats, including forest edges or areas 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 ...

. Historically, they were thought to be restricted to high elevations of over , and only rarely on lowland plains. This is now known not to be true, and more recent surveys have shown Sunda stink-badgers are often found in elevations well below 2000m.Samejima H, Meijaard E, Duckworth JW, Yasuma S, Hearn AJ, Ross J, Mohamed A, Alfred R, Bernard H, Boonratana R, Pilgrim JD, Eaton J, Belant JL, Kramer-Schadt S, Semiadi G, and Wilting A. (2016). Predicted distribution of the Sunda stink-badger Mydaus javanensis (Mammalia: Carnivora: Mephitidae) on Borne
https://lkcnhm.nus.edu.sg/nus/images/data/raffles_bulletin_of_zoology/supplement33/S33rbz061-070.pdf
Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 33: 61-70 Sunda stink badgers have been reported as low as above sea level on Java, at relatively low elevations in

Sarawak Sarawak ( , ) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia. It is the largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia. Sarawak is located in East Malaysia in northwest Borneo, and is ...

., and have even been recorded at elevations as low as 10m in the Lower Kinabatangan floodplains, Sabah, Borneo at seemingly high densities.Evans MN., Vickers SH., Abu-Bakar MS and Goossens B. (2016)
Carnivores of the Lower Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary, Sabah, Borneo, including a new locality for the Otter Civet Cynogale bennettii
Small Carnivore Conservation 54: 26–38 Three subspecies are recognized: * ''M. j. javanensis'' (Sunda stink badger) - Java and Sumatra * ''M. j. lucifer'' (Bornean stink badger) - Borneo * ''M. j. ollula'' (Natuna Islands stink badger) - northern Natuna Islands

Behaviour and ecology

The Sunda stink badger is omnivorous and highly nocturnal. The animal portion of its diet consists of invertebrates, eggs, and

carrion Carrion (), also known as a carcass, is the decaying flesh of dead animals. Overview Carrion is an important food source for large carnivores and omnivores in most ecosystems. Examples of carrion-eaters (or scavengers) include crows, vultures ...

. At night, it roots through soft soil using its snout and claws searching for worms and ground-dwelling insects. During the day, it sleeps in short burrows, less than in length, which it either digs or takes over from other animals, such as

porcupines Porcupines are large rodents with coats of sharp Spine (zoology), spines, or quills, that protect them against predation. The term covers two Family (biology), families of animals: the Old World porcupines of the family Hystricidae, and the New ...

. Females have been reported to give birth to litters of two or three young.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q570548 Stink badgers Carnivorans of Malaysia Mammals of Brunei Mammals of Indonesia Carnivorans of Borneo Fauna of Sumatra Mammals described in 1820 Aposematic species