CreatureData

Colombian weasel

Neogale felipei (Izor & de la Torre, 1978)

Status not recordedmammals

The colombian weasel (Neogale felipei) is a species in the family Mustelidae, order Carnivora. Recorded adults weigh about 211.3 g.

No freely licensed photo yet

Quick facts about the colombian weasel

Weight
211.3 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
Not recorded
Diet
Carnivoresrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
Not recorded
Young per litter or clutch
Not recorded
Active
Day and night (cathemeral)src for Active
Lifestyle
Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
Conservation status
Not recorded
Countries on record
Not recorded

Where does the colombian weasel live?

Not recorded

What is the colombian weasel?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The Colombian weasel (Neogale felipei), also known as Don Felipe's weasel, is a very rare species of New World weasel only known with certainty from parts of Colombia and Ecuador. As of 2023, it has been recorded 11 times in the Colombian departments of Huila and Cauca, and once in nearby northern Ecuador. Both its scientific and alternative common name honour Philip "Don Felipe" Hershkovitz, an American mammalogist.

It appears to be largely restricted to riparian habitats at an altitude of 1,100 to 2,700 m (3,600 to 8,900 ft). There is extensive deforestation within its limited distribution within the northern Andes Mountains of Colombia and Ecuador, and with less than 12 known specimens, it is probably the rarest carnivoran in South America. It is considered vulnerable by the IUCN.

It is the second-smallest living carnivoran on average, being only slightly larger than the least weasel (Mustela nivalis) and slightly smaller than the stoat or ermine (M. erminea). The upperparts and tail are blackish-brown, while the underparts are orange-buff.

The species was formerly only known from specimens until the first photo of a living individual was taken in 2011 by an amateur naturalist who found one trapped in his parents' house; the weasel subsequently escaped to the outdoors. The image was uploaded to iNaturalist in 2018, where it gained widespread attention.

From the Wikipedia article “Colombian weasel” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Colombian_weasel&oldid=1377858282), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the colombian weasel endangered?

No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.

How is the colombian weasel classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classMammalia
  4. orderCarnivora
  5. familyMustelidae
  6. genusNeogale
  7. SpeciesNeogale felipei (Izor & de la Torre, 1978)

Synonyms Mustela felipei

Other names and names in other languages (27)
  • Columbian weaselEnglish
  • Don Felipe's weaselEnglish
  • ابن عرس كولومبيArabic
  • Kaerell KolombiaBreton
  • Mostela de ColòmbiaCatalan
  • Lasice kolumbijskáCzech
  • Kolumbianisches WieselGerman
  • Comadreja colombianaSpanish
  • Comadreja de Don FelipeSpanish
  • AndienkärppäFinnish
  • kolmbiankärppäFinnish
  • Belette colombienneFrench
  • Belette de ColombieFrench
  • סמור קולומביאניHebrew
  • Donnola colombianaItalian
  • コロンビアイタチJapanese
  • 콜롬비아족제비Korean
  • kolumbijas zebieksteLatvian
  • ColombiarøyskattNorwegian Bokmål
  • Colombiaanse WezelDutch
  • Mostèla colombianaOccitan
  • Łasica kolumbijskaPolish
  • Doninha-colombianaPortuguese
  • Колумбийская ласкаRussian
  • Kolombiya SansarıTurkish
  • Kolombiya gelinciğiTurkish
  • 南美山鼬Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidata

Relatives of the colombian weasel

Other species in the same genus Neogale.

Big mink

Neogale macrodon

MustelidaeNo free photo yet

CompareColombian weasel vs American minkColombian weasel vs Amazon weaselColombian weasel vs Long-tailed weaselColombian weasel vs Big mink

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the colombian weasel?

An adult colombian weasel weighs 211.3 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

What kind of animal is the colombian weasel?

The colombian weasel (Neogale felipei) belongs to the family Mustelidae in the order Carnivora.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Colombian weasel (Neogale felipei). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/colombian-weasel

MLA

“Colombian weasel (Neogale felipei).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/colombian-weasel.

BibTeX
@misc{colombian_weasel_2026,
  title = {Colombian weasel (Neogale felipei)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/colombian-weasel},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}