Least weasel

Gestation lasts 36 days, litters hold 5.1 young, there are 1.5 litters per year, and sexual maturity comes at 120 days. Its IUCN Red List category is LC in the global assessment, which is not an IUCN threatened category.

Weight

49.8 g – 115 gsrc for Weight

Length

Not recorded

Lifespan

9.55 years – 10 yearssrc for Lifespan

Diet

Carnivoresrc for Diet

Main food

Not recorded

Habitat

forestsrc for Habitat

Gestation

34 days – 36.5 dayssrc for Gestation

Young per litter or clutch

4.4 – 5.09src for Young per litter or clutch

Age at maturity

3.94 monthssrc for Age at maturity

Litters or clutches a year

1.5src for Litters or clutches a year

Active

At night (nocturnal)src for Active

Lifestyle

Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle

Conservation status

Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status

Countries on record

Not recorded

Not recorded

The least weasel is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

1. LCLeast Concern
2. NTNear Threatened
3. VUVulnerable
4. ENEndangered
5. CRCritically Endangered
6. EWExtinct in the Wild
7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.

1. kingdomAnimalia
2. phylumChordata
3. classMammalia
4. orderCarnivora
5. familyMustelidae
6. genusMustela
7. SpeciesMustela nivalis Linnaeus, 1766

Synonyms Mustela alpinus, Mustela ibericus, Mustela italicus, Mustela meridionalis, Mustela minor, Mustela minutus, Mustela monticola, Mustela nivalis corsicana, Mustela nivalis kerulenica, Mustela nivalis nivalis, Mustela praenivalis, Mustela typicus

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List

LC, Least Concern

Stoat

Mustela erminea

Mustelidae

LC, Least Concern

European polecat

Mustela putorius

Mustelidae

CR, Critically Endangered

European mink

Mustela lutreola

Mustelidae

LC, Least Concern

Siberian weasel

Mustela sibirica

Mustelidae

NT, Near Threatened

Mountain weasel

Mustela altaica

Mustelidae

LC, Least Concern

Steppe polecat

Mustela eversmanii

Mustelidae

CompareLeast weasel vs StoatLeast weasel vs European polecatLeast weasel vs European minkLeast weasel vs Siberian weasel

• An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
  Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1
• Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
  Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf
• Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
  Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence).
• EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
  Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1
• Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
  Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
• Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
  Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).

@misc{least_weasel_2026,
  title = {Least weasel (Mustela nivalis)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/least-weasel},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}