In Hong Kong, there are records of 3 native civets –
This one is the the Small Indian civet (Viverricula indica taivana), captured moving through my camera trap, deep, deep in the New Territories. A nocturnal animal, it is very difficult to get a photographic record, and I do not know many people who have seen them.
The other two civets we have here are:
1. the much more common, even in urban areas now, the Masked palm civet (Paguma larvata taivana), blogged about the last two days.... and
2. the Large Indian civet (Viverra zibetha). The first two can still be found, but the last one has not been seen or recorded since the 1970s, hence is considered extirpated (which means to eradicate or destroy completely, and specifically means a condition of a species that ceases to exist in a chosen geographic area of study, though it still exists elsewhere). This is often down to a change in the ecology of that area.
SEE THEM: out at night...hmmm, good luck, as they are very shy, and not common. BUT, they have a stuffed one at the Biodiversity museum, so go and check that out.
Here is another camera trap image of a Small Indian Civet, unusually out during daylight, photographed at Mai Po by Sharne McMillan. She runs the research for Otters in Hong Kong, and see the link to the Facebook page - or simply look up Hong Kong Otters!
These animals are normally nocturnal so a real treat to see this one out and about. They live on the ground, nesting in holes, or under rocks, but they can climb well like the rest of their family. They are primarily insectivorous but also feed on rats, mice, birds, snakes, fruit, roots and carrion. They normally live around 8 years, and the female has four or five young at a birth. Link to otter page:
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