Asian palm civet

Their scientific name is palm civet Paradoxurus hermaphroditus. Paradoxurus is a Latin word that means “palm civets”. Hermaphroditus is also a Greek term that comes from the mistaken perception that these creatures are intersex because of scent glands resembling testicles under the tail that are present in both genders.

Their natural habitat is the forests, but because of deforestation, they have lost their habitat, and dwell in parks and suburban gardens.

Civet Cats are distributed around South Asia and Southeast Asia. They are native in India, Bangladesh, Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, and also including Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. These creatures are most closely related to mongeese and weasels. Civets climb trees both to escape from other predators and to hunt.

They have a coarse black fur with greyish coats and white coat under eyes, a spot on the side of the nostrils and a line on their forehead. The common palm civet has a tail that is nearly the size of their entire body.

These furry creatures have long bodies, including the tail, and have a coarse black fur with greyish coats and white coat under eyes, a spot on the side of the nostrils and a line on their forehead. The body is about 53 cm (21 in) (excluding tail).

The lower legs are black, short, and strong with claws adapted for a good grip while climbing. They are excellent climbers and spend most of their lives in trees. They like to choose the highest trees in the forest to stay. This is where they spend most of the time during the night and the whole time when the sun is up.

A common palm civet feasts on palm flower sap, berries, and pulpy fruits as their natural habitat is on fruit trees. Due to their fondness for palm fruit trees and palm sap, they are also known as 'toddy cat'. These animals are infamous for eating ripe coffee cherries (for their sweet fruit flesh). The beans that they pass once the coffee cherries have been eaten is often collected and sold for its unique flavour.
Asian palm civet

Civettictis civetta

The Civettictis civetta or African civet is widely distributed in Africa from Senegal and Mauritania to southern Sudan, Ethiopia, Djibouti, and southern Somalia southwards in all countries to northeastern Namibia, north and east Botswana, and northeastern South Africa.

Morphologically, African civets have close resemblance to genets and linsangs. Due to their long body and bushy tail, they look like a member of the cat family. However, they are not true cats. They have a head and body length of 68−89 cm with a tail length of 44.5−46.3 cm and a body weight of 7−20 kg.

African civets have a high center of gravity, and the tail serves as a balance, which is kept low and horizontal during movements. African civet looks relatively short legged compared to its size.

Young civets are born in advanced stages relative to most carnivores. They are fully furred, although the fur is darker, shorter, and softer than adult fur. Their markings are more poorly defined than those of adults.

Young are able to crawl at birth, and the hind legs support the body by the 5th day. They start leaving the nest between 17-18 days, and the first sign of play behavior is seen at about 2 weeks. The young are completely dependent on mother's milk for about 6 weeks. After about 42 days, their mother provides them solid food.

African civets occupy a range of habitats including secondary forest, woodland, bush habitats as well as aquatic habitats. They are not common in interior forest habitats but thrive in degraded and deforested areas.

African Civets are omnivorous and opportunistic foragers, and their diet may include cereals (maize, wheat, barley) and domestic fruits (e.g. bananas, figs, olives). They are avid feeders on toxic millipedes, and they commonly feed on fruits such as raisin bushes (Grewia sp.) in Alldays area, Limpopo.

They are nocturnal in habit and use their acute senses of smell and hearing to locate their prey. Unlike genets, civets do not chase prey. They grab from their hiding places. During prey capture, they use their teeth to bite and shake the prey violently to break the spinal column or may bite the prey and throw it vigorously.
Civettictis civetta

Civet

Civets, also known as civet cats, are not related to cats and have shorter legs and longer muzzles than do cats.

There are 17 species of civets although ‘civet’ is a generic name not related to a scientific classification and the grouping of these species varies according to which authority is followed. Civet cats are native to Africa, the animals are also found in India, Malaysia, Indochina and Indonesia.

Originally derived from an Arabic term the word civet was at first used to denote a scent obtained from the African civet.

This animal is remarkable for the production of the drug called civet, sometimes erroneously confounded with musk. This is a substance which is fund in a large double glandular receptacle situated at a little distance beneath the tail,

The diet of civets is typically varied. It may include insects, crabs and other invertebrates, as well as frogs, lizards, snakes, fish, birds and mammals.

The civet is nearly two feet and a half in length; the tail is more than one foot, and the mean height of the animal is about one foot three inches.
Civet