civet

(also ‘civet cat‘)

a kind of animal – mammal – related to the ‘mongoose’; with slim cat-like body, long tail, muzzle (= the mouth and nose part) looks like that of a mongoose; grows to 17-30 inches long with an other 20 inches of the tail length, 15-20 inches tall at the shoulder, weighs 1-7 Kg.; most of them live in the trees, but some live on the ground; active at nights; feeds on other small animals, such as rodents, lizards, snakes, birds, bird eggs, and also fruit, especially berries, and some species even coffee beans; lives for 10-15 years in the wild and 20-25 on farms; found in Africa and Asia

Some common civets are: African civet, masked palm civet, Asian palm civet or toddy cat, Hose’s palm civet, brown palm civet, etc.

Special Features:

First of all, though their name says “civet cat”, and they even look like a cat, civets are not true cats; they are more related to mongoose!

The most important feature is the fatty yellow liquid (musk) secreted by both the male and the female (also called ‘civet’) is used in making perfumes, and is in great demand in the perfume market. These days, civets are kept on farms for their musk.

Civets are also hunted for their meat and fur (coat).

The palm civet of southern Asia is a fruit eater, and it has a taste for the toddy (‘toddy’ = ‘palm wine’, a kind of alcoholic drink made from the sap of the palm trees).

(undigested coffee beans that passed through civets bowels)

The most interesting thing about the civets, known as ‘Kopi Luwak’ in Indonesia, is that the coffee beans that are eaten by a civet, and the undigested beans found in the civet’s shit are believed to be very tasty, and have a great demand in the coffee industry. (No one knows how the coffee beans get that flavour when they pass through the civet’s bowls!)

Finally, the masked palm civet was blamed for the out break of SARS (= Severe acute respiratory syndrome – a disease affecting the breathing system in people) in Asia in 2003, which killed more than 750 people; it was suspected that this civet was the source of the SARS virus.