Melogale orientalis

Taxonomy

Assessment Information

Geographic Range

Population

Habitat and Ecology

Threats

Conservation Actions

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Taxonomy [top]

Kingdom	Phylum	Class	Order	Family
ANIMALIA	CHORDATA	MAMMALIA	CARNIVORA	MUSTELIDAE

Scientific Name:

Melogale orientalis

Species Authority:

(Horsfield, 1821)

Common Name/s:

English

–

Javan Ferret Badger, Javan Ferret-badger

Synonym/s:

Melogale personata ssp. orientalis (Horsfield, 1821)

Taxonomic Notes:

Melogale orientalis used to be considered to be a subspecies of Large-toothed Ferret Badger M. personata. Due to the morphological similarities between all Melogale species and because no thorough taxonomic study has been done on this genus, further research on the systematics of this genus is necessary (Long 1992).

Assessment Information [top]

Red List Category & Criteria:

Data Deficient ver 3.1

Year Assessed:

2008

Assessor/s

Duckworth, J.W. & Brickle, N.W.

Evaluator/s:

Belant, J. (Small Carnivore Red List Authority) & Schipper, J. (Global Mammal Assessment Team)

Justification:
This species is listed as Data Deficient as there is almost no available contemporary information on status, threats or distribution. More survey work is necessary to obtain data improve the state of knowledge of this species prior to applying the Red List Criteria. There is a possibility that this species could be threatened, therefore this species is a priority for further research and survey work.

History:

1996	–	Lower Risk/near threatened
1996	–	Lower Risk/near threatened (Baillie and Groombridge 1996)
1994	–	Insufficiently Known (IUCN)
1990	–	Insufficiently Known (IUCN 1990)
1988	–	Insufficiently Known

Geographic Range [top]

Range Description:	Riffel (1991) presents a distribution map for the species. The species certainly occurs in hills and mountains of Java and Bali, but there is insufficient evidence to say that it is not present on the adjacent plains (W. Duckworth pers. comm.). There are only two records for Bali, which was omitted from the range in most of the standard sources before 1991. An individual was found on a forest trail approximately 300 m south of Lake Buyan in Central Bali at an elevation of 1,180 m, and the other record is a 1979 specimen with no precise locality information, held in Museum Zoologicum Bogoriense (Riffel, 1991). There are two subspecies: M. o. orientalis in eastern Java, and M. o. sundaicus in western Java (Long 1992). The Small Carnivore conservation Action Plan 1989 has a record for a point without a name (perhaps Dieng Plateau) in Central Java. It was recorded, with no detail, in a survey in Gunung Halimun Nature Reserve in 1990-1991 (Yossa et al. 1991). There are several recent records for Gunung Gede, a known historical site (Brickle 2007). There are several other recent unpublished records but no-one has attempted to collate them and evaluate current distribution and status.
Countries:	Native: Indonesia
Range Map:	(click map to view full version)

Population [top]

Population:	Riffel (1991) traced a few recent records; it does not seem to be very rare, but may not be very common either.
Population Trend:	Unknown

Habitat and Ecology [top]

Habitat and Ecology:	The ecology of this species is largely unknown, and there are few data on habitat requirements, as most museum material outside Indonesia is labelled "Java" only (Riffel, 1991). The specimen from Bali was found in habitat described as "secondary forest and rubber plantation", with nearby human settlements, 2 to 3 km east of the site where it was recorded, thus giving some indication that this species is not reliant on primary forest (Riffel, 1991). There are also records from deep within primary forest (Brickle, 2007), suggesting a wide tolerance of habitat.
Systems:	Terrestrial

Habitat and Ecology:

The ecology of this species is largely unknown, and there are few data on habitat requirements, as most museum material outside Indonesia is labelled "Java" only (Riffel, 1991). The specimen from Bali was found in habitat described as "secondary forest and rubber plantation", with nearby human settlements, 2 to 3 km east of the site where it was recorded, thus giving some indication that this species is not reliant on primary forest (Riffel, 1991). There are also records from deep within primary forest (Brickle, 2007), suggesting a wide tolerance of habitat.

Systems:

Terrestrial

Threats [top]

Major Threat(s):	Nothing is currently known about potential threats as little is known about habitat requirements, population status, or current exploitation activities. Much of the forest habitat of Java has been converted to other uses, particularly agriculture, but it is unclear to what level, if any, this species depends upon extensive, old-growth, or any sort of forest; some other Melogale spp. are very adaptable to forest fragmentation and degradation (see account for M. moschata), but the same cannot be assumed for this species. Although there are a few records to date from non-forest areas, they could simply have been dispersing individuals. There is no information on its susceptibility to whatever hunting levels occur in its range. It is not significantly traded, but it is no doubt caught in non-selective traps. In sum, several plausible threats operate but it is unclear if any are threats at the population level.

Major Threat(s):

Nothing is currently known about potential threats as little is known about habitat requirements, population status, or current exploitation activities. Much of the forest habitat of Java has been converted to other uses, particularly agriculture, but it is unclear to what level, if any, this species depends upon extensive, old-growth, or any sort of forest; some other Melogale spp. are very adaptable to forest fragmentation and degradation (see account for M. moschata), but the same cannot be assumed for this species. Although there are a few records to date from non-forest areas, they could simply have been dispersing individuals. There is no information on its susceptibility to whatever hunting levels occur in its range. It is not significantly traded, but it is no doubt caught in non-selective traps. In sum, several plausible threats operate but it is unclear if any are threats at the population level.

Conservation Actions [top]

Conservation Actions:	The conservation status of this species is virtually unknown (Riffel, 1991). This species is known from the following protected areas G. Gede-Pangrango National Park where three individuals were collected in 1970, and there are several recent sight-records (Brickle 2007), Meru Betiri National Park (Seidensticker et al., 1980) where the Javan ferretbadger was reported to occur near Sukamade in the centre of the reserve, and Gunung Halimun Nature Reserve, where a survey conducted by the Biological Science Club revealed the species continuing occurrence in that area (Yossa et al., 1991).

Conservation Actions:

The conservation status of this species is virtually unknown (Riffel, 1991). This species is known from the following protected areas G. Gede-Pangrango National Park where three individuals were collected in 1970, and there are several recent sight-records (Brickle 2007), Meru Betiri National Park (Seidensticker et al., 1980) where the Javan ferretbadger was reported to occur near Sukamade in the centre of the reserve, and Gunung Halimun Nature Reserve, where a survey conducted by the Biological Science Club revealed the species continuing occurrence in that area (Yossa et al., 1991).

Citation:	Duckworth, J.W. & Brickle, N.W. 2008. Melogale orientalis. In: IUCN 2009. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2009.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 09 February 2010.
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