Zorilla
| Zorilla | ||||||||||||
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Zorilla ( Ictonyx striatus ), specimen in the Natural History Museum of Genoa. The animals are actually colored black and white. With this preparation, the black hair is lightened by long exposure to light. |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Ictonyx striatus | ||||||||||||
| ( Perry , 1810) |
The Zorilla or tape Iltis ( Ictonyx striatus ) is a in Africa living carnivore species from the family of Marten (Mustelidae). Although it has many parallels to the American Skunks in its appearance and behavior , it belongs to the subfamily Ictonychinae and is therefore closely related to the Grisons .
features
Zorillas have the black and white stripes on their backs, which are also characteristic of Skunks. The underside is black. The face is also black, with white spots on the forehead and cheeks. The predominantly white tail is long and bushy. These animals reach a head body length of 28 to 39 centimeters, a tail length of 20 to 30 centimeters and a weight of 0.4 to 1.4 kilograms, whereby the males are significantly heavier than the females.
distribution and habitat
Zorillas live all over Africa south of the Sahara , their range extends from Mauritania to Sudan and south to South Africa . They inhabit a wide variety of habitats, such as savannas , semi-deserts, and rainforests .
Way of life
Zorillas are almost exclusively nocturnal. They use crevices or abandoned burrows of other animals as resting places, but sometimes they also dig their own burrows. They live mainly on the ground, but can swim and climb. Their posture when hunting, with their back bent and their tail stretched out, is reminiscent of mongooses . Zorillas live solitary and avoid contact with conspecifics outside of the mating season.
When a zorilla is attacked, it first hisses, straightens its hair and lifts its tail. If that doesn't help, he turns around and squirts a secretion from his anal glands at the attacker . This secretion is present in large quantities and has a strong, penetrating odor. Sometimes they play dead in the event of an attack.
food
Zorillas are predominantly carnivores. They hunt small rodents such as mice , rats and spring hares , as well as birds , lizards , snakes and insects . Sometimes they also break into chicken coops and tear down the poultry.
Reproduction
After a gestation period of around 36 days, the female gives birth to her offspring between September and December. The one to three newborns are initially naked and blind. They open their eyes at around 40 days, and after around four months they are weaned.
Zorillas and people
As hunters of rats and mice, zorillas are considered useful in Africa, even if they sometimes kill poultry. In some places they are also kept as pets, for which they usually have their anal glands removed.
Danger
Overall, they are widespread and are not endangered species. The International Union for Conservation of Nature IUCN accordingly lists them in the Red List of Endangered Species as not endangered (“Least Concern”).
literature
- Ronald M. Nowak: Walker's Mammals of the World . 6th edition. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore 1999, ISBN 0-8018-5789-9 (English).
Web links
- Ictonyx striatus in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2009 Posted by: Stuart, C. Stuart, T. & Hoffmann, M., 2008. Accessed January 24 of 2010.