ZORILLA

Scientific Name : Ictonyx striatus

INTRODUCTION:

A zorrilla, more commonly known as a striped polecat, is a close relative of the African weasel, and is considered one of the worst smelling creatures in the animal kingdom. Like other polecats, this carnivore is nocturnal. It has several means of avoiding predators - including the ability to emit foul-smelling secretions from its anal glands, playing dead and climbing trees. The animal is mainly black but has four prominent white stripes running from the head, along the back to the tail. The striped polecat is typically 60 centimeters long including a 20-centimeter tail. It lives for up to 13 years. It is larger than its relatives, reaching up to 14 inches (about 32 cm) long as an adult and weighing up to 2.2 pounds (1 kg). The animal also has longer coat hairs than the African weasel, and is identified by its characteristic three white dots on the head, with one in the center and one above each eye. It strongly resembles the American Skunk.

The zorrilla lives throughout Sub-Saharan Africa, with the exception of the forest, woodland areas, and most of Somalia. It prefers cool, well-grazed grasslands and follows an established path when hunting for food or traveling. It is a nocturnal animal, meaning it sleeps during the day and comes out at night to hunt for food. Its diet consists primarily of small animals, such as snakes, lizards, spiders and insects. The shape of the snout on the zorrilla is ideal for pushing into soft soil to search for invertebrates. 

The zorilla has thick fur with black and white markings, and a long, bushy tail. Its anal glands secrete a pungent fluid that can be ejected as a defense against predators. It is avoided by other animals. It lives in rocky crevices and hunts by night, feeding on small reptiles and rodents. Other African members of the weasel family, also called striped weasels, are more weasellike in appearance, with long, slender bodies. Zorillas are classified in the phylum Chordata , subphylum Vertebrata, class Mammalia, order Carnivora, family Mustelidae.

Aside from during mating time, the zorrilla is a solitary animal. Mating season begins in the spring and ends in early summer. The female breeds once per season, with a typical litter consisting of up to three babies. The gestation period lasts 36 days, and the female remains with her young until they are fully grown, or about 20 weeks. When not mating, the male and female zorrillas rarely interact, although it is not known if the males are territorial.

Until January 17, 2011, the zorrilla was a relatively unknown animal in the media. On that night, American zookeeper Jack Hanna brought the animal onto a late-night talk show, claiming it was the only one in the United States. He also claimed that it was the worst smelling animal in the world. The zorrilla gets its name from “zorillo,” the Spanish word for “skunk.”

The foul odor produced by the zorrilla comes from the anal scent glands. The spray is not only nauseating to those close enough to smell it, but also extremely irritating to the eyes. This smell is part of the animal's defense system. When cornered, the animal raises the hair on its back to make itself look larger. If this fails, it releases the strong-smelling fluid from its anal glands. The zorrilla is easily startled, which also causes it to release the spray, so it is usually de-scented when kept in captivity.

 FACT FILE: 

Common Name     : African polecat; Zorilla

Subject                  : Mustelidae; Carnivora; Mammals; Vertebrates; Chordata; Predatory animals.

Head-Body Length: 30-38 cm

Height                    : 10-15 cm

Weight                    : 600-1400 g

Identification          : The African polecat is mostly black with white stripes and a white tail. Their underside is black.

Geographic Range  : Sub-Saharan Africa

Habitat                    : Grasslands, steppes

Diet                         : invertebrates, rats, reptiles, hares

Social Structure      : Polecats are solitary animals but may be found in pairs or family parties.

Behavior                 : This nocturnal species usually hunts between 10 p.m. and dawn. If threatened, they will squirt noxious anal secretions at the attacker.

Status                      : No special status

Interesting Facts     : As a defense mechanism, the polecat will spray its aggressor with a foul-smelling fluid from its anal glands.

GEOGRAPHIC RANGE:

Striped polecats are found throughout the African continent. They are distributed in all habitats occurring between the Mauritanian coast and the coast of Sudan, and southward to the South African coast.

SCIENTIFIC CLASSIFICATIONS:

#Kingdom : Animalia

      #Phylum : Chordata

            #Class : Mammalia

                  #Order : Carnivora

                        #Family : Mustelidae

                              #Genus : Ictonyx

                                    #Species : I. striatus

HABITAT:

 Zorillas live its circulation area in completely Africa south the seeing era, extend from Mauritania to the Sudan and southward to South Africa. They inhabit a multiplicity of Habitaten, for example savannahs, half deserts and rain forests.

Striped polecats inhabit a wide variety of habitats. Although they are most commonly found in African savannas and semi-arid environments, they can also be found anywhere from the coastal sand dunes of the Namib desert, to the big rainfall areas of the District of Zimbabwe, which has forests, high mountains, and even swamps. 

CHARACTERISTICS:

Zorillas have also the black-and-white strip design of the back characteristic of Skunks. The lower surface is black. The face is likewise black, with white marks on forehead and cheeks. Thatpredominantly white colored tail is long and buschig. These animals reach a head fuselage length from 28 to 39 centimeters, a tail length from 20 to 30 centimeters and a weight from 0,4 to 1.4 kilograms, whereby the males become clearly heavier than the females.

FOOD:

Zorillas carnivores are predominant. He hunts small rodents such as mice, rats or jumping hares, in addition birds, lizards, queues and insects. Sometimes it breaks in also into chicken houses and tears the poultry.

Striped polecats are carnivores. They eat a wide variety of small rodents, including rats, mice, and spring hares. They also eat frogs, lizards, snakes, birds, bird eggs, and beetles. They avoid eating vegetable matter.

Polecats are particularly prevalent on rangelands, where the grazing behavior of wild herbivores and domestic livestock tends to keep the grass short. This allows striped polecats to feed on beetles, their larvae, and mice. Where there is an abundance of dung and fodder for beetles and mice to eat, striped polecats flourish because of the abundance of prey.

BEHAVIOR:

Zorillas are almost strictly nocturnal, but some have been seen foraging around dusk and dawn. They seem to lead fairly nomadic lives. These mustelids are solitary creatures that sleep in hollow trees and rock crevices. They may also dig burrows or cover themselves with twigs and leaves when other suitable sleeping places are not present.

Although polecats are efficient swimmers and climbers, they prefer the terrestrial life. When foraging, a zorilla will walk or run with its backs held in a firm arch and its tail in the vertical position with the tip bent down. This loping gate is something like that of a mongoose.

Very little is known about the social life of wild zorillas, and they appear to be mainly solitary. In captivity, but several families have been kept together and grooming appears to be common among them. Some will roll over and present their dark undersides for grooming. Even though large numbers are seldom encountered together in the wild, their captive behavior suggests that they may not be highly territorial.

REPRODUCTION:

After a carrying time of approximately 36 days brings the female between Septembers and December their new generation to the world. To three newborn children are first naked andblindly. With approximately 40 days they open the eyes, after approximately four months them are cured. Zorillas are generally intollerant of one another except during the mating season, when males and females can interact without aggression. Studies of captive animals indicate that the breeding season is from early spring to late summer. All litters were born between September and December. Females generally produced only one litter in a season, but if all of her babies died young, a female could produce another litter before the end of the breeding season.

The mother usually gives birth to a litter ranging from 1 to 4 young. The young are born in burrows during the mid-summer months after a 6 week gestation period.Weighing in at 15 g, a newborn is blind and hairless with pink skin. Short fur begins to cover their body at 21 days after birth. The canine teeth don't grow out until day 32, and they don't open their eyes until they are between 35 and 42 days old. Although zorillas can kill their own prey at 9 weeks of age, they aren't completely weaned until they are 18 weeks old. Sexual maturity is reached between the 20th and 30th week, although some females in captivity have given birth at an age of 10 weeks. 

The mating system of this species is unknown. These animals are solitary in the wild. Male encounters are always aggressive. Males and females only tolerate one another only during the mating season. Because males are larger than females and are aggressive toward one another, it is likely that there is some competition between them for mates. Species in which males are larger than females generally display some level of polygyny.

Parental care in this species has not been described in the literature. However, because of the solitary nature of the species, it is reasonable to assume that the male is not involved in rearing the young. Females give birth to their young in burrows. Young are altricial, and therefore require extensive care until they are able to survive on their own. Females nurse young until they are about 18 weeks old.

WAY OF LIFE:

 Zorillas are nearlyexclusively night-actively. As quiescent places they use rock columns or abandoned build other animals, sometimes dig them in addition, own build. They predominantly live at the soil, can swim and climb however. Their body attitude with the hunt with the bent back and the high-stretched tail reminds of Mangusten. Zorillas live einzelgängerisch and avoid outside of the mating time the Kontatk to kind comrades.

If a Zorilla is attacked, he faucht first, arranges its hair and lifts the tail. If that does not use anything, he turns and squirts the aggressor a secretion from his Analdrüsen against. ThisSecretion is present in large quantities and has a strict, penetranten smell. Sometimes they place themselves in the case of attack also dead.

ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE FOR HUMANS : POSITIVE

As hunters of rats and mice are regarded Zorillas in Africa as useful, even if sometimes they tear poultry. They become at some places alsoas domestic animals held, whereby the Analdrüsen is however mostly removed for them. Altogether they are widespread and do not rank not among the threatened kinds.

Striped polecats are very common on big sheep farms and ranches of the Kenyan highlands. They perform an extremely important role in the pastures by keeping down the number of beetle larvae that feed on roots and grasses. Farmers like polecats because they also eat a large proportion of the field rats and mice which ruin crops. 

Striped polecats may be kept as pets if the anal glands are removed to keep down objectionable odors. Interestingly, there is at least one report of native peoples using the anal gland secretions of these animals as a perfume (Kingdom, 1977). (One must wonder whether this was because the people liked the way the polecats smelled, or if wearing polecat scent might be a way to cloak their own human odors from other animals, preventing those animals from detecting human presence — a useful hunting strategy.)

ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE FOR HUMANS : NEGATIVE

Polecats around farms will prey on small livestock like rabbits, chickens, and chicken eggs.

PREDATION:

Specific reports of predation on this species are absent in the literature. However, striped polecats are reportedly pestered by domestic dogs. They may also occasionally be considered as prey items by larger African carnivores.

Striped polecats have a variety of behaviors and physical features which may be evolutionary responses to predation. A polecat will make frequent stops or reversals in direction while moving about. These changes in direction are instantaneous. This might give the impression that they posses quick reflexes, and may deter predators. It is likely that such changes in direction will also avert attack from any predator, especially avian predators, which may be closing in on the polecat.

These beasts commonly feign death when actually attacked. It is dificult to speculate on how that may aid them in detering a predator, as it would seem to make them easier to consume. However, this may allow the predator to get a good taste of their anal gland secretions and allow them the convenience to decide to release the zorilla uneaten.

When bothered by another animal, most commonly dogs, a striped polecat will growl and bark and fluff up its tail. If this does not drive the attacker away, the growling rises to a high pitched scream. The polecat will turn around and present its attacker with a squirt from its well-developed anal glands. (Like the skunks found in North America, striped polecats can spray a large amount of powerfully odorous secretions from their anal glands.) If the odor does not deter the assailant, a polecat may feign death. Anal gland secretions, which linger on the fur of a polecat, may then serve to further deter predators because they have a terrible taste. A predator that tries to bite a polecat may decide that the polecat will make a terrible-tasting meal and subsequently release it.

LIFESPAN:

Range lifespan  Status : captivity

13.3 (high) years.

Average lifespan  Status: captivity

13.3 years.

The lifespan of wild zorillas has not been reported. However, one captive specimen reportedly lived for 13 years and 4 months.

          That's it about ZORILLA!!!!!!!