Biology

Active by both day and night, the Palawan stink badger moves with a somewhat cumbersome walk (2), intermittently lowering its head to the ground as if smelling for the correct direction (4). The Palawan stink badger has a number of lines of defence. It may turn its hind parts towards the threatening animal, approach to a suitable distance and then squirt a jet of foul-smelling, yellowish fluid from its anal glands. At other times, the Palawan stink badger may 'play dead', before ejecting the stinking secretion over the unsuspecting intruder (2). The putrid stench of the secretion does not dissipate for some time (4). Like the other stink badger species, the Palawan stink badger probably rests in burrows, either dug by itself or one excavated by a porcupine (2). While the diet of stink badgers is not clear, it is thought that they feed mainly on insects that are encountered as they walk along the ground or amongst the undergrowth. Captive stink badgers have fed on worms, insects and the entrails of chickens (2).