A Recent Record of Stripe-Backed Weasel Mustela Strigidorsa from Yunnan Province, China
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A recent record of Stripe-backed Weasel Mustela strigidorsa from Yunnan province, China CHAN Pui Lok Bosco* and ZHAO Jiang-bo Abstract The current distribution and status of Stripe-backed Weasel Mustela strigidorsa in China is little reported. In April 2014, we observed an individual in old-growth evergreen broadleaf forest in the Tengchong area of Gaoligonshan National Nature Reserve, western Yunnan, China. The location is very close to Kachin State of northern Myanmar, from where there are several records. Keywords: Gaoligonshan National Nature Reserve, habitat, Honghe Autonomous Prefecture, Tengchong county Stripe-backed Weasel Mustela strigidorsa Gray, 1853 occurs old-growth evergreen broadleaf forest up to 30 m tall. The forest along the foothills of the eastern Himalayas in North-east is humid with tree trunks almost completely covered by mosses India, northern Myanmar and southwestern China, as well and liverworts; thick undergrowth, sometimes predominantly as Vietnam, Lao PDR and Thailand (Abramov et al. 2008). In dwarf bamboo Fargesia China it has been recorded from south-western Guangxi and An animal was detected moving through thick herba- southern and western Yunnan provinces, extending northeast ceous undergrowth about, carpeted 1 m from the a forest 3 m-wide floor gentle (Fig. 1). stream. to Guizhou province up to 26°10′N (Zhang et al. 1997, Wang JZ stood still upon detecting the movements and a weasel ap- 2003, Abramov et al. 2008). Despite being listed as Endan- peared about 50 cm from him, on the forest trail with its head and anterior body clearly seen. The weasel looked up momen- little is known about the species in China with hardly any tarily and retreated into the undergrowth when it noticed him. recentgered ininformation the China Speciesavailable. Red A Listreview (Wang of records & Xie 2004), across very the It moved through the undergrowth and reappeared 2 m from species’s range suggested that it is not as rare as previously him when crossing the forest trail, allowing another brief but believed (Abramov et al. 2008). good look. The head-and-body length was about 30 cm and the During April 2014, a team from Kadoorie Conservation basic dorsal colour uniformly chestnut brown; a thin light yel- China conducted a rapid biodiversity survey of the Tengchong lowish median dorsal stripe was clearly visible. The venter of area of Gaoligongshan National Nature Reserve (NNR), Yunnan such a low-stature animal could not be observed given the angle province, China. Gaoligongshan NNR, with three geographically of observation. Careful comparison with literature and photo- separate sections, the northern ‘Gongshan section’, the mid- - dle ‘Lushui section’ and the southern ‘Baoshan section’, is Yun- berian Weasel M. sibirica has been recorded in Gaoligongshan nan’s largest protected area, of about 4,055 km². Tengchong graphs confirmed the animal was a Stripe-backedM. kathiah Weasel. might Si adjoins Kachin state of Myanmar draining the River Irrawad- also occur there; JZ has seen both species in other parts of dy (= Ayeyarwady). It makes up the western half of the north– NNRChina. (Xue The 1995)sighting and location Yellow-bellied is over 6 Weaselkm from the nearest per- south running Gaoligongshan in the 1,245 km² Baoshan section manent human settlement, with minimal human disturbance. (24°56′–26°09′N, 98°34′–98°50′E). Little is known about the natural history of Stripe-backed On 28 April 2014 at 12h30, when conducting ornitho- Weasel in China. Few previous Chinese records have much logical survey along a well-forested stream in gentle terrain, location and habitat detail, but in Honghe Autonomous Pre- JZ observed a weasel in riparian evergreen broadleaf forest fecture along the Red River in southern Yunnan, a specimen at about 2,190 m asl (based on Google Earth) at co-ordinates was collected at 1,600 m asl at Laowuzhai, a border village 25°45′11″N, 98°42′15″E (WGS 84) at Datang forest, Jietou (at 22°36′N, 102°59′E) in Jinping County (Wang 1987) near township, Tengchong county about 8 km from the international Lai Chau province, Vietnam. Google Earth indicates the land- border with Myanmar. The nearest Burmese town is Chipwi scape of Laowuzhai to be a mosaic of farmland, shrubland and of Myitkyina district, Kachin state. Kachin state has one of the forest, with natural vegetation contiguous with good quality most “impressive series of records” for Stripe-backed Weasel (Abramov et al. 2008: 253). The Datang area holds extensive Lung in Vietnamese). In other range states, the species has high-altitude forest of the transboundary Mt Xilong (Phu Si Small Carnivore Conservation, Vol. 51: 74–75, December 2014 74 Stripe-backed Weasel in Yunnan, China - hasdescribed been recordedpreviously. widely It apparently in southern represents and western the first Yunnan con includingfirmed record the Gaoligonshan from Tengchong area county, (Wang although2003, Abramov the species et al. in litt. 2014). With widespread conversion of hill forest to permanent cash crops (especially rubber and cardamom)2008, Wang outsideY. X. protected areas throughout its range in China, a re-assessment of its current distribution and status there is warranted. References The Stripe-backed Weasel Mustela strigidorsa: taxonomy, ecol- Abramov,ogy, distribution A. V., Duckworth, and status. J. W., Mammal Wang, Y. Review X. & Roberton, 48: 247–266. S. I. 2008. Streicher, U., Duckworth, J. W. & Robichaud, W. G. 2010. Further re- cords of Stripe-backed Weasel Mustela strigidorsa from Lao PDR. Tropical Natural History 10: 199–203. China Species Red List, I. Higher Education Press, Beijing, China. Wang S. & Xie Y. 2004.Biological resource survey of the Honghe Region, southern Yunnan – Chapter I: terrestrial vertebrates. Yunnan WangNational Y. X. (ed) Publishing 1987. House, Kunming, China. A complete checklist of mammal species and subspecies in China: a taxonomic and geographic reference. China Forestry WangPublishing Y.-X. 2003. House, Beijing, China. Gaoligong Mountain National Nature Reserve. China Forestry Publishing House, Beijing, China. (In Chinese.) ZhangXue J. R Y., (ed.) Jin S.,1995. Quan G., Li S., Ye Z., Wang F. & Zhang M. 1997. Distribu- tion of mammalian species in China. China Forestry Publishing House, Beijing, China. Kadoorie Conservation China, Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden, Fig. 1. Old-growth evergreen broadleaf forest of Datang, Tengchong section, Lam Kam Road, Tai Po, Hong Kong SAR, China. Gaoligongshan NNR, Yunnan, China, 25 Sept 2014 (Photo: Chan P. L. Bosco). *Email: [email protected] been recorded from a wide range of habitats and altitudes, and is said to be diurnal and often unafraid/unaware of peo- ple (Abramov et al. 2008, Streicher et al. 2010). This sighting fits the altitude and habitat requirements, as well as habits, 75 Small Carnivore Conservation, Vol. 51, December 2014.