Thai National Parks

The hog badger (Arctonyx collaris), also known as greater hog badger, is a terrestrial mustelid native to Central and Southeast Asia. It is listed as Vulnerable in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species because the global population is thought to be declining due to high levels of poaching.

Characteristics

It has medium-length brown hair, stocky body, white throat, two black stripes on an elongated white face and a pink, pig-like snout. The head-and-body length is 55 - 70 cm, the tail measures 12 - 17 cm and the body weight is 7 - 14 kg. With weights regularly reported from 8.4 to 12 kg it is one of the world's largest terrestrial extant mustelids going on average body mass, perhaps behind only the wolverine and rivaling the European badger (although it is not known to rival the weights of the latter, better-known badger during autumn hypophagia).

Its appearance generally resembles the European badger, but it is generally smaller, with larger claws on the front feet. Its tail has long white hairs, and its front feet have white claws.

Distribution and habitat

Hog badger is considered fairly common in Thailand and in tropical evergreen forests and grasslands of the Terai in north-eastern India and eastern Bangladesh. It occurs in Indochina and in southern China. Its distribution in Myanmar is considered patchy. In the Indonesian island of Sumatra, hog badger occurs primarily above 2000 m with one record at 700 m. There is one isolated record in eastern Mongolia.

The IUCN considers the greater hog badger (A. collaris), the northern hog badger (A. albogularis) and the Sumatran hog badger (A. hoevenii) as three separate species. The greater hog badger is listed as a Vulnerable species. The other two are listed as Least Concern.

Ecology and behavior

The hog badger is active by day and not very wary of humans. Analysis of numerous camera trap pictures from Myanmar show no peak activity at either day or night.

The hog badger is omnivorous, its diet consists of fruits, roots and small animals.

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