Also known as Mink, Marten, Red Mink and
Grand Foliate, it belongs to the Mustelidae family of Carnivora order. Its Latin
scientific name is Martes zibillina, and English name is Sable.
Its body is slender, with four stout limbs,
and the body shape is like yellow weasel but slightly larger. The male is
generally larger than the female. It has five toes with sharp and bent claws.
Its ears are large and erect, slightly triangular-shaped. The tail hair is
tousy. Its body color is black brown, slightly mixed with white acicular hair;
and the head is light grayish brown, with the ear brim spotted with white color.
It has yellow or yellowish white larynx spots. Thei chest has tan hair, while
the belly is in lighter color. Its winter pelt is of top quality due to its
dense, rich and generous fuzz, and also because of the cutis plate with good
elasticity.
It lives in coniferous forestss or mixed
broadleaf-conifer forests in sub-frigid zone, mostly building nests in tree
holes or on stone heaps. Except mating time, it mostly lives alone, with acute
sight and audition, as well as quick action. Once astonished, it will instantly
disappear in the woods. Feed on mini-type rodent, avifauna, pine nuts, wild
fruits, and bird ova, it regularly looks for food at night on the ground or
under snow; when there is a food shortage, it also come out in daytime for
hunting. Its range of movement is within 5 to 10 square kilometers. The estrous
period is from April to May every year, and the gestation period lasts 9 to 10
month. It has 2 to 4 babies per fetus, and grows to sexual maturity at the age
of 3. Its main natural enemy is Yellow-throated Martens and birds of prey.
Sable is distributed
in Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning provinces, as well as Xinjiang Uygur
Autonomous Region.