Viverridae Spotlight: Asian and Banded Palm Civet

This is actually the very first spotlight I ever did that mentioned two separate animals in the title. I felt I had to do this because I really think the two go together for this blog. Before I begin, however, I want to point out something that I missed in the last blog. Apparently, all civets are under the suborder feliformia--same as cats and hyenas. A friend of mine who is a big fan of hyenas corrected me. The reason it happened was because none of my sources told me that. He slid a new source my way which explained the issue. I'll still be calling the series Viverridae Spotlight as my interest in civets are a bit more focused--if not entirely obsessive.

The Asian palm civet can be found in South and Southeast Asia. They have a body length of 21 inches with a tail of 19 inches. They only weigh 11 pounds. Their fur is dark and mottled and their faces have a mask which make them similar to raccoons.

They are a mostly solitary species. They are omnivores, but it seems the thing they really love are coffee beans. We'll get back to that little box of insanity in a bit. The majority of their diet is fruit and vegetable matter, but they will also nose about looking for insects. Additionally, there is a a particular type of flower--called a palm flower--which very well may be where the Asian palm civet gets its name. The palm flower produces a sap that tends to ferment into a sweet liquor called a toddy. For this reason, the Asian palm civet is commonly referred to as a "toddy cat."

Now, about those coffee beans. The weird thing about the African civet was that they literally produced perfume from their anus. This is not the case with the Asian palm civet; however, there is still a remarkable interest in this one's anus. Apparently in Indonesia, there is a special kind of coffee called Kobi Luwak which is made from beans that have been fully digested by the Asian palm civet. That's right. They dig around in the creature's faeces for these beans and then sell them at the shops. It's very trendy! Would you drink coffee from a civet's anus? I sure wouldn't!

The banded palm civet is a similar breed; however, it is slightly bigger, lives in different locations, and has a far more distinct coat. This creature can be found Thailand and Indonesia. It is well-known for its gorgeous stripped pattern upon its back. One of the reasons I brought this creature up with the former was due to the fiction section of this spotlight.

Many, many times in these spotlights, I have referenced Gary Kilworth's book series "Welkin Weasels."  In his 6th book "Heastward Ho!" the pangolin emperor of Far Kathay--basically China--employed banded palm civets as his personal guards. It was actually the very first time I had heard of civets. There was a lot of fascination in the book about their stripes and how many stripes they had. It made me want to learn more about them, The reason I connect this creature to the Asian palm civet was because information on the banded variety was hard to come by, and so I chose to introduce him by way of a close relative.

I still chuckle about my little paragraph last week about the perfume-selling African civets. So what about the coffee-loving Asian palm civets? Should I go there? Probably not. I mean... who wants to talk about a civet who likes a crappy brand coffee, right?

I love the civets, and if I can find more of them to do spotlights on, I will! They are a lot of fun and look very pretty. Still, I keep wondering at why all the fascination about them seem centered about their rear ends.

Thank you for reading this blog! If you enjoyed it, you can comment below, or you can email me at tkwadeauthor@gmail.com. Thank you!

Asian Palm Civet

Asian Palm Civet

Banded Palm Civet

Banded Palm Civet

Illustration from "Heastward Ho!" (Banded Civets on left and right)