Discovery of the Yellow-billied Weasel Mustela Kathiah in Thailand

Abstract

The first records of Yellow-bellied Weasel Mustela kathiah from Thailand are from sites in the country’s north that are ecologically similar to where the species has been recorded in the neighbouring countries Lao PDR and Myanmar. The first record came from Doi Phahompok National Park, Chiang Mai Province. The dead animal, later deposited at the Thailand Natural History Museum, was misidentified as Least Weasel Mustela nivalis (never otherwise claimed for Thailand) and has been included under that name in some publications on mammals of Thailand. Two road-killed Yellow-bellied Weasels (one preserved) and one sighting come from Doi Inthanon National Park, Chiang Mai Province. A live-captured weasel and several sightings, all by day, were documented in Taksin Maharaj National Park, Tak Province. One sighting record from Thung Yai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary, Kanchanaburi Province, is south of the other records presented here. Most records came from hill evergreen forest and/or disturbed habitats at elevations above 1,400 m asl, but the Thung Yai sighting was in dry evergreen forest at 770 m asl. The scarcity of Thai records of Yellow-bellied Weasel does not necessarily indicate a genuine national rarity; it may simply have been overlooked by conventional survey methods. Least Weasel should be deleted from the list of mammals of Thailand.