Civet
Cryptoproctinae
Euplerinae
Hemigalinae
Nandiniae
Paradoxurinae
Viverrinae
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The 35 species of
civet,
genet and
linsang make up the
family Viverridae. They are small, lithe-bodied, mostly aboreal members of the
order Carnivora. General appearance is broadly
cat-like, but the muzzle is extended and often pointed, rather like an
otter or a
mongoose. The Civet's length, excluding its long tail, is about 17 to 28 in (400 to 700 mm) and its weight is about 3 to 10 lb (1 to 5 kg).
They are native to most of the Old World tropics, nearly all of
Africa bar the area immediately south of the
Mediterranean,
Madagascar, and the
Iberian Peninsula. Favoured habitats include woodland, savanna, mountains and, above all,
tropical rainforest. In consequence, many are faced with severe loss of habitat: several species are classed as vulnerable and both the Otter Civet and the Falanouc are classified as endangered.
Civets are
omnivorous, supplementing a meat diet (both hunted and scavenged) with fruit, eggs, fish, insects, and possibly roots. One of the Civet's favorite fruits is the
coffee "berry" which it seeks out and eats, but the bean often survives, which is sometimes gathered and sold as
caphe cut chon, or "fox-dung coffee", in Vietnam or
Kopi Luwak, "Kopi coffee" in Indonesia.
Civets are prized for their
musk and their fur.
Civet is used to refer to the musk they produce, as well as the animals themselves: it is used in small quantities in some perfumes. This musk is gathered by scraping it out of the Civet's anal sacs, a very painful process.
Despite their
endangered species status, civets are also prized for their meat.
It has been suggested that the practice of eating them may have resulted in the
SARS virus outbreak of
2003. In January
2004,
Guangdong province in
China banned sales of civet cats and ordered the slaughter of all captive civets. In January 2004 the United States announced an embargo on the importation of civets into the country.
Species
(incomplete list of species)
- Subfamily Cryptoproctinae
- Cryptoprocta ferox - Fossa (animal)
- Subfamily Euplerinae
- Eupleres goudotii - Falanouc
- Fossa fossana - Malagasy Civet
- Subfamily Hemigalinae
- Chrotogale owstoni - Owston's Palm Civet
- Cynogale bennettii - Otter Civet
- Hemigalus derbyanus
- Subfamily Nandiniinae
- Nandina binotata - African Palm Civet
- Subfamily Paradoxurinae
- Arcticis binturong - Binturong
- Paradoxurus hermaphroditus - Common Palm Civet
- Paradoxurus larvata - Masked Palm Civet
- Paradoxurus zelonensis - Golden Palm Civet
- Paradoxurus jerdoni - Jerdon's Palm Civet
- Paradoxurus musschenbroekii - Sulawesi Palm Civet
- Arctogalida trivirgata - Small-toothed Palm Civet
- Subfamily Viverrinae
- Civetticus civetta - African Civet
- Viverra tangalunga- Oriental Civet
- Viverra zibetha - Indian Civet
- Genetta angolensis - Angolan Genet
- Genetta genetta - Common or European Genet
- Genetta tigrina - Blotched Genet
- Poiana richardsoni - African Linsang
- Prionodon linsang - Banded Linsang
- Prionodon pardicolor -
