White-backed hog-nosed skunk (Conepatus Leuconotus) occurrence in the Oklahoma panhandle
The white-backed hog-nosed skunk ( Conepatus leuconotus ) is an understudied mesocarnivore thought to be declining throughout its range in the southwestern United States. With the exception of a single skull of unknown age, hog-nosed skunks have not been documented in Oklahoma since 1930. We conducted a camera trapping survey in Cimarron County, Oklahoma during summer 2022 and confirmed the presence of a hog-nosed skunk in Oklahoma. This finding provides the first evidence of a hog-nosed skunk in Oklahoma in over 90 years and is within the range of a poorly documented subspecies ( C. l. figginsi ) believed to be in decline.
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