civet

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Civets
African Civet, Civettictis civetta
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Carnivora
Family:	Viverridae in part
Genera
Chrotogale Cynogale Diplogale Hemigalus Arctogalidia Macrogalidia Paguma Paradoxurus Civettictis Viverra Viverricula

Civets are small, lithe-bodied, mostly arboreal mammals native to the tropics of Africa and Asia. Civet may also refer to the distinctive musk produced by the animal.

Taxonomy

The common name is used for a variety of carnivorous mammalian species, mostly of the family Viverridae (although it resembles the other civets, the African Palm Civet (Nandinia binotata) is genetically distinct and belongs in its own monotypic family, Nandiniidae).

In 2005, the World Wide Fund for Nature released photos taken by a night time camera trap of an unknown carnivore (nicknamed the cat-fox) on Borneo. Scientists debate whether this animal is new species of civet, or a known, but rare, species (such as Hose's Palm Civet, thought previously to be extinct).

Physical characteristics

Civets have a broadly cat-like general appearance, though the muzzle is extended and often pointed, rather like an otter or a mongoose. They range in length from about 17 to 28 in. (40 to 70 cm) (excluding their long tails) and in weight from about 3 to 10 lb (1,4 to 4,5 kg).

Habitat

Illustration of an African Civet

Viverrids are native to Africa (except the area immediately south of the Mediterranean), Madagascar, the Iberian Peninsula, southern China, and Southeast Asia. Favoured habitats include woodland, savanna, and mountain biomes and, above all, tropical rainforest. In consequence, many are faced with severe loss of habitat; several species are considered vulnerable and the Otter Civet is classified as endangered.

Sri Lanka

In Sri Lanka, the Asian palm civet species is known as "Uguduwa" by the Sinhala speaking community. The terms Uguduwa and Kalawedda are used interchangeably by the Sri Lankan community to refer to the same animal. However, the term Kalawedda is mostly used to refer to a another species in the civet family, the Small Indian Civet. Sri Lanka also has an endemic civet species called Golden Palm Civet.

Exotic Dung Coffee

Kopi Luwak, also known as caphe cut chon (fox-dung coffee) in Vietnam and kape alamid in the Philippines, is coffee that is prepared using coffee cherries that have been eaten and partially digested by the Asian Palm Civet, then harvested from its feces.^[1]

SARS

SARS Virus. Many believe the Masked Palm Civet to be the source of the SARS outbreaks in Asia in 2003.

There has been some speculation that the source of the SARS-CoV virus, which had a significant outbreak in Asia in 2003, can be traced back to a particular species of civet, the Masked Palm Civet.^[2] Many people hunt the Masked Palm Civet for its meat, and due to this, there are those who believe that these practices may have introduced the SARS virus to humans, though the WHO states that more research must be conducted before any conclusion linking the animals to the virus can be drawn.^[3]

While the virus was confirmed present in the fecal and respiratory specimens taken from Masked Palm Civets, investigators have recently recognized civets as incidental, versus reservoir hosts. A more likely hypothesis now appears to be that the virus was contracted in some other animal. The most likely original host species are bats closely related to the Chinese horseshoe-nosed bats, which then infected the Masked Palm Civet.

After the conjecture of the infection being hosted by civets was made public, the ingestion of wild animals in Asia has dropped drastically. The percentage of people who consumed wild animals was previously around 49%, but has since dropped to approximately 38%.^[4]

Yi Guan of Hong Kong University is responsible for the slaughter of civets during a resurgence of SARS in late 2003. This is credited with potentially preventing the spread of the infection.^[5]

References

External links

• Raising Small Indian civet (Viverricula indica) website www.vietlinh.vn