How many baby Bornean ferret-badgers are in a litter?
A Bornean ferret-badger (Melogale everetti) usually gives birth to around 2 babies.
Upon birth, they weight 210 grams (0.46 lbs) and measure 1.5 cm (0′ 1″). They are a member of the Mustelidae family (genus: Melogale). An adult Bornean ferret-badger grows up to a size of 68.4 cm (2′ 3″).
To have a reference: Humans obviously usually have a litter size of one ;). Their babies are in the womb of their mother for 280 days (40 weeks) and reach an average size of 1.65m (5′ 5″). They weight in at 62 kg (137 lbs), which is obviously highly individual, and reach an average age of 75 years.
The Bornean ferret-badger (Melogale everetti), also known as Everett’s ferret-badger or the Kinabalu ferret-badger, is a member of the family Mustelidae. The scientific name commemorates British colonial administrator and zoological collector Alfred Hart Everett.It is nocturnal and mostly carnivorous but may eat some plants; with their diet including insects, snails, earthworms, lizards, small birds and rats (including carcasses) and fruit. Given its varied diet, it was recorded foraging in a small roadside dump site in 2003. The only known conservation measures are that it is protected by Sabah Wildlife Conservation Enactment 1997 as “Melogale personata” and it occurs in Kinabalu Park.
Other animals of the family Mustelidae
Bornean ferret-badger is a member of the Mustelidae, as are these animals:
- Saharan striped polecat with 2 babies per pregnancy
- Sunda stink badger weighting around 2.5 kilograms (5.51 lbs)
- American hog-nosed skunk with 3 babies per pregnancy
- American badger with 2 babies per pregnancy
- Eastern spotted skunk with 5 babies per pregnancy
- European badger with 3 babies per pregnancy
- European polecat with 8 babies per pregnancy
- Marbled polecat with 5 babies per pregnancy
- Amazon weasel weighting only 268 grams
- Hooded skunk with 4 babies per pregnancy
Animals that share a litter size with Bornean ferret-badger
Those animals also give birth to 2 babies at once: