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Subfamily Viverrinae (Civets and linsangs)
Large Indian civet Viverra zibetha Linnaeus, 1758

Distribution

It is distributed in northern India possibly from Chamba to north Bengal, Sikkim, eastwards to Orissa (Acharjyo & Patnaik 1987), Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh (Pocock 1933, Choudhury 1997a,b, 1999, Datta 1999). Extralimitally it has been reported from Nepal, Myanmar, Thailand, Singapore and in the mainland Malaysia (Pocock 1939, Medway 1978, Corbet & Hill 1992).

Description

It is a large civet with a pointed muzzle, long compressed body and short stumpy legs, a built typical to true civets. Like all members of the genus Viverra, the third and the fourth digits of the forefeet are with well-developed skin-sheaths protecting the claws. All the feet are thickly hairy between the pads. General colour is grey or tawny with yellowish or brown tinge. Flanks are marked with indistinct dark spots or mottling of black or dark brown colour. The front of the muzzle on each side has a whitish patch; the chin and the fore throat are blackish. Anterior edges of the ears are widely separated by the broad forehead. There is always an erectile black spinal stripe or crest (dorsal crest) running from behind the shoulders to the root of the tail. Dark bands are pronounced on the chest and shoulders and form loops and rosettes on the hindquarters. The tail is almost half the size of head and body with five to eight dark bands separated by pale rings extending up to the tip of the tail. There is significant variation in coat colour among individuals because of age, sex and seasons. The length of the head and body is 760-820 mm, tail 425-495 mm, and weight 8-9 kg. Males and females are approximately alike in size.

Two subspecies possibly found in India are, V. zibetha zibetha Linnaeus, 1758 in Nepal, Bhutan, upper Bengal and apparently in Assam and V. zibetha picta Wroughton, 1915 from east of (Brahmaputra) Assam (Pocock 1939).

Behaviour

It is nocturnal, generally solitary, primarily terrestrial and restricted to the forest floor, although it can climb with ease. It is largely carnivorous but supplements its diet with fruits. Like most carnivores it feeds on anything worth killing. The stomach contents of one animal were found to have a small monitor lizard, a shrew, number of insects including cicada and some oil palm seeds. In India, it has also been seen fishing and in China crabs have been found in the gut contents. It breeds during May and June and produces 3-4 young ones in a litter. The maximum recorded life span is 15 years and five months in captivity (Crandall 1964).

Conservation status

It is listed in Schedule II part II of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, Appendix II of CITES, and VU A1c during CAMP Workshop.

| Introduction | Mustelids | Viverrids | Herpestids | 
| Conservation Significance | References |