Greater Hog Badger

About this species

Size

Snout to rump 65–104cm; tail 19–29cm

Weight

7–14kg

Diet

Omnivorous: fruit, roots and small animals

Habitat

Forest, the Terai and lower Himalayan foothills

Range

Eastern Himalayas and the Terai from the Yamuna eastwards to Assam and the Brahmaputra basin

The greater hog badger is one of the largest land mustelids, a stocky animal with medium-length brown hair, a white throat, and a long white snout with two black stripes and a pink, pig-like nose. It looks like the European badger but its snout is more pig-like and the claws on its front feet are larger and white. The tail carries long white hairs. It measures 65–104 cm from snout to rump and weighs 7–14 kg, with 8.4–12 kg commonly reported (Wikipedia, general species account).

In India it is found in the Terai from the Yamuna eastwards through Haryana, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Assam and West Bengal, in the lower Himalayan foothills and in the Brahmaputra basin. The nominate subspecies lives in the Eastern Himalayas and the Indochinese hog badger occurs from Assam to Myanmar. It is active by day and is not very wary of people. It is omnivorous, feeding on fruit, roots and small animals (Wikipedia, general species account).

Description: Wildlife of India guide, Wildlife of Everywhere (wildlifeofeverywhere.com); general species information paraphrased from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)