
Photo: (c) Mark, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC-BY
Mustela kathiah
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
Size
Body 25–27cm; tail 12–15cm
Weight
About 1.5kg
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).