The Vietnam ferret-badger (Melogale cucphuongensis) is a member of the family Mustelidae native to Vietnam. It was described in 2011 and is known from only two specimens.
A carnivore meaning 'meat eater' is an organism that derives its energy and nutrient requirements from a diet consisting mainly or exclusively of a...
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TerrestrialTerrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land (e.g., cats, ants, snails), as compared with aquatic animals, which liv...
Among animals, viviparity is the development of the embryo inside the body of the parent. The term 'viviparity' and its adjective form 'viviparous'...
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starts withThe only two specimens known come from a site that consists of a compound of buildings in a degraded lowland evergreen forest fringe (second specimen) and from a location near it (first specimen), in the Cúc Phương National Park in Northern Vietnam, in the Ninh Bình Province. It is not known whether this site is representative of the species' habitat. The site is situated on limestone, which has given rise to the speculation that the species might depend on a karst habitat, as do other animals in the region.
The Vietnam ferret-badger is currently classified as Data Deficient by the IUCN, and no specific threat estimate is deemed possible. The species is probably under hunting pressure, as the site is heavily hunted and one of the specimens had apparently escaped from a snare (although the presence of the ferret-badgers indicates that they may not be heavily impacted by this). Habitat loss due to deforestation is a general threat to ecosystems in the region, which likely applies to this species as well.
