The yellow-throated marten is a long-tailed forest hunter with a bright golden throat and a dark head and tail. It lives across much of Asia but is not found in the wild in the U.S. Pairs or small groups sometimes hunt animals as large as young deer, and it is the second-largest marten in the Old World, after the Nilgiri marten.
Appearance
- Appearance
- Males are about 20–28 in (50–72 cm) long and weigh 5.5–12.6 lb (2.5–5.7 kg); females are smaller, about 20–24 in (50–62 cm) and 3.5–8.4 lb (1.6–3.8 kg). The tail is about two-thirds of the body length. Fur is brownish yellow with a darker, blackish-brown head, an orange-gold throat and chest, and a black tail.
Where it lives
- Typical habitats
- Forests
- Mountains
- Range
- Afghanistan and Pakistan east through the Himalayas, China, Taiwan, the Korean Peninsula, and the Russian Far East, and south through Southeast Asia to Borneo, Sumatra, and Java. It does not live in the wild in North America.
- Preferred conditions
- A forest animal that climbs trees well; it has been recorded as high as 14,800 ft (4,510 m) in Nepal.
Behavior
- Diet
- Omnivorous: fruit, nectar, insects, rodents, hares, birds and eggs, and hoofed animals. In the Russian Far East, musk deer are a major winter food.
- Social life
- Hunts by day, usually in pairs and sometimes in groups of three or more.
Life cycle
- Breeding season
- Females come into heat twice a year, in late winter and in summer.
- Litter size
- Usually 2–3 kits, rarely 4.
Conservation
- IUCN Red List
- LCLeast ConcernLow risk of extinction
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