Japanese marten

The Japanese marten, Martes melampus, is a marten endemic to Japan, where it lives in the forested regions of Honshu, Kyushu, Shikoku and Tsushima. Its coat ranges from yellow to brown depending on the region. The animal is agile and territorial and helps to disperse seeds in the shrublands of northern Japan. It is omnivorous, preferring meat from fish, frogs and small birds and mammals, but eating insects, fruit and seeds when it must, and in warmer months it eats more rodents and birds. The IUCN classes it as Least Concern even though logging and forest fragmentation reduce its habitat, and legal protection and habitat restoration are among the conservation measures. In Japanese folklore the marten is associated with shapeshifting and omens.