Mammals of the WorldYellow-bellied Weasel
Mustela kathiah
- Order
- Carnivora
- Family
- Mustelidae
- Genus
- Mustela
- IUCN status
- LC
- Distribution
- Nepal|Bhutan|India|Myanmar|Thailand|Vietnam|China
- Realm
- Indomalaya|Palearctic
About this species
- Size
- Body 25–27cm; tail 12–15cm
- Weight
- About 1.5kg
- Diet
- Birds, mice, rats, voles and other small mammals
- Habitat
- Forest at 1,000–2,000m, moving lower in winter
- Range
- Himalayan region from Pakistan and Nepal to Southeast Asia and China
The yellow-bellied weasel gets its name from its yellow underparts, while the upper side of the body and the tail are dark brown. The body is 25 to 27cm long, with a tail of 12 to 15cm, roughly half the body length. It inhabits forest at 1,000 to 2,000m and moves lower in winter, sometimes below 1,000m (Wikipedia, general species account).
It eats birds, mice, rats, voles and other small mammals. It first builds a den in the ground. Mating takes place in late spring or early summer, breeding is annual, and kits are ready to hunt for themselves by eight weeks old. The sources opened here give only a short general account and nothing specific to Nepal beyond the range list. Nationally Data Deficient (Nepal National Red List 2011).
Description: Wildlife of Nepal guide, Wildlife of Everywhere (wildlifeofeverywhere.com); general species information paraphrased from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)