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Masked palm civet Paguma larvata Hamilton-Smith, 1827

Distribution

The masked palm civet has the largest distribution range among all the civet species. It is distributed throughout the Himalayas from north of Pakistan, Jammu and Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh through Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Sikkim and Assam southwards to Andaman Islands (Pocock 1939, Roberts 1977, ZSI 1992, Choudhury 1997 a,b, 1999, Jha 1999). Extralimitally it is distributed in Nepal, Bhutan, south China to eastwards in Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Taiwan and Japan (Pocock 1939, Roberts 1977, Medway 1978, Corbet & Hill 1992).

Description

The masked palm civet is distinguished from other Indian civets by its white whiskers and by the absence of spots or stripes on its body (Prater 1971). It is larger and heavier than the common palm civet with a relatively longer tail, which is cylindrical and thickly muscular in its proximal portion. The tail is two third of the head and body length. Its body colour ranges from uniform greyish-black at the extremities to almost pure black, and the underparts are greyish-buff colour. The tail is often tipped dirty white. The face has a regular black and greyish-white pattern, which varies among individuals, but usually a white semicircular band of creamy white hair occurs behind and below the eyes, which does not meet across the forehead. There may be a distinct line of grey tipped hair running down the centre of the forehead and nose, another beneath the ears passing over the cheeks, and a blotch below each eye. It has derived its name from these markings or mask. It is distinguished from yellow-throated marten by the pale markings on the face, and the dark chin and throat. The head to body length varies from 415-730 mm, tail is 392-560 mm and weight ranges from 3.6-6 kg.

Four Indian subspecies are, P. larvata wroughtoni Schwarz, 1913 occurring in Kashmir, Upper Punjab, and parts of Kumaun and Garhwal; P. larvata grayi Bennett, 1835 in Kumaun and Garhwal; P. larvata neglecta Pocock 1934 from Sikkim eastwards; P. larvata tytlerii Tytler, 1864 in Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Behaviour

Its habits are similar to those of common palm civet. The masked palm civet is mainly arboreal, nocturnal and largely solitary. It lives in mountain and hill forests taking shelter in hollows of trees. It mostly eats fruits but also supplements its diet with rodents, birds, insects and roots. When disturbed or agitated it ejects a foul smelling secretion from its four anal glands. It breeds in holes in trees. The litter size is 1-4. In juveniles the facial masks are not very prominent but have indistinct marking on the dorsal side similar to common palm civets leading to confusion in identification in the field. The longest recorded life span in captivity is 15 years and 5 months (Crandall 1964).

Conservation status

It is listed in Schedule II part II of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, and Appendix III of CITES and LR1c during the CAMP Workshop.

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