African Civet – Civetticus civetta

AFRICAN CIVET

Civetticus civetta

From: www.djuma.co.za/civet.htm

photo from Gowrie Cam; Africam

General:

• They are found throughout the African tropics except the desert areas.
• They feed on snakes, birds, eggs, hares, spiders, millipedes, fruit, snails and fish.
• They are usually found close to watercourses and in woodland areas.
• They are mainly solitary and are territorial, marking their territory using dung and anal secretions.
• They can give off foul smelling secretion from their anal gland, which may deter predators.

• They do not have retractable claws.
• They weigh between 7-20kg.
• They were kept in captivity for thousands of years to obtain a substance called civetone, form the animal’s anal gland, to be used as a fixative for perfumes.

Breeding:

• Females give birth from 1-4 young after a gestation period of 2.5 months; young are properly weaned after about 5 months.

Predators:

• They are killed by lion, hyena and leopard.