Species group · Mammals

Hog-nosed Skunks

WAnimals has 2 species of hog-nosed skunk, all in the family Mephitidae.

2 species

1 family

7 countries

51 parks

Ranges calculated from the entries that record the figure, not from all 2.

All 2 species of hog-nosed skunks on WAnimals

Each one has its own full entry. This group does not replace them: it brings them together.

Molina's Hog-nosed Skunk

Conepatus chinga

Humboldt's Hog-nosed Skunk

Conepatus humboldtii

2 Least Concern

No species documented in this group is genuinely at risk according to the IUCN, with the data available today.

Recorded in 7 countries. The ones with the most species in the group:

It sprays a foul-smelling fluid from its anal glands as far as 3 metres.
From Molina's Hog-nosed Skunk
Its anal secretion contains sulphur compounds so persistent that the smell can last for weeks in clothing and be detected more than a kilometre away with a favourable wind.
From Molina's Hog-nosed Skunk
It is practically immune to the venom of South American rattlesnakes and has been documented killing and eating them, a resistance it shares with other American skunks.
From Molina's Hog-nosed Skunk
It gives warning before spraying: it stamps the ground with its front feet, arches its back, raises its tail and shows the white stripes; only if the intruder persists does it fire an oily fluid from its anal glands that carries several metres.
From Humboldt's Hog-nosed Skunk
Its white stripes on a black ground are a classic example of aposematic colouring: they are not for concealment but for precisely the opposite, to be recognised from a distance and avoided.
From Humboldt's Hog-nosed Skunk