Scientists have been scrutinizing a Noah's Ark of animals to find out whether, and how, the coronavirus was transmitted from bats to humans, with the prime suspect changing from one study to another.
A number of animals have been suggested as the intermediary carrier of COVID-19 during this process. First, it was snakes, and then the endangered pangolin before Asian ferret badgers were thrown into the spotlight. But you may not have heard of the ferret badger. So, let's take a look at some facts about this lesser-known creature.
The ferret badger's name is actually fairly self-explanatory.
It's a member of the mustelidae, the family of mammals that includes weasels, badgers, ferrets, otters, martens, minks and wolverines.
Visually it looks very much like a cross between a ferret and a badger.
With an average length of 33 to 43 centimeters, its small size and thin shape are reminiscent of a ferret.
However, they also have white facial markings and a stripe down their back, traits seen in many badger species.
The ferret badger looks quite similar to the palm civet cat which, while not a mustelidae, was identified as the intermediate host between bats and humans for the 2003 SARS outbreak.
The ferret badger has five identified subspecies, the Bornean, the Chinese, the Javan, the Burmese and the recently classified Vietnamese.
Chinese ferret badgers, melogale moschata, are the most widespread and can be found as far west as Assam in India, throughout southern China and as far east as Taiwan.
It has a diverse stomping ground and is found in tropical and subtropical forests as well as grasslands.
It is most active at dusk and during the night, eating an omnivorous diet of seeds, fruits and nuts as well as insects, earthworms and small amphibians.
It has sharp claws allowing it to climb, and sleep, in trees.
It also fiercely defends itself from threats, emitting a powerful smelling secretion from its anal glands when alarmed.
The unique species is not endangered. It is currently listed in the "least concern" category on the U.N.'s Red List.
While it is sometimes hunted for its pelt, the ferret badger does not appear to be under any major population pressure.
Unlike many species, it may cope quite well with human encroachment into its habitat.
A study of ferret badgers in the mid-1990s near a village in southeastern China found the animals often made use of firewood stacks and rock piles to rest and hunted for food in rice paddies, soybean, cotton or grass fields.
Farmers usually like the animals as they get rid of pests and did not tend to attack chickens or livestock.
