Civettictis civettaAfrican civet

Ge­o­graphic Range

Civet­tic­tis civetta, the African civet, in­hab­its the sa­van­nahs and the forests of south­ern and cen­tral Africa. The African civet is rarely found in arid re­gions; how­ever, it can be found along river sys­tems that pro­ject into the arid areas of Niger, Mali, and Chad. (Ray 1995).

Habi­tat

African civets live both in the for­est and in open coun­try, but they seem to re­quire a cov­er­ing of tall grasses or thicket to pro­vide safety in the day­time. They rarely can be found in arid re­gions of Africa. In­stead, they are usu­ally found close to per­ma­nent water sys­tems. (Ray 1995)

  • Aquatic Biomes
  • rivers and streams

Phys­i­cal De­scrip­tion

Civet­tic­tis civetta has many un­mis­tak­able fea­tures, in­clud­ing large hindquar­ters, a low-head stance, and short (ap­prox­i­mately 1-4 inch) mane which ex­tends down its back. This mane be­comes erect when the an­i­mal is ex­cited or scared, mak­ing it look larger. In­di­vid­ual civets are rec­og­nized by the de­tails of their dark face masks, which re­sem­ble those of a rac­coon, and also white neck stripes. Their bod­ies are sil­ver or cream in color with brown­ish black mark­ings and spots. The body length is 24 to 36 inches, with a 17 to 24 inch tail. Un­like the dig­i­tal and pal­mar pads, the civets cen­tral pads pos­sess no hair. This Civet has five dig­its with long, non-re­tractable claws. They have large, broad mo­lars suit­able for crush­ing and grind­ing. The den­tal for­mula is 3/3, 1/1, 4/4, 2/2= 40.(Ray 1995, An­i­mal Breeder 1999, Schlie­mann 1990). (Ray, 1995; Schlie­mann, 1990)

  • Range mass
    12 to 15 kg
    26.43 to 33.04 lb

Re­pro­duc­tion

The av­er­age lifes­pan of the African civet is 15 to 20 years. There is no fa­vored breed­ing sea­son in West Africa. The breed­ing sea­son in Kenya and Tan­za­nia oc­curs in March through Oc­to­ber. In south­ern Africa, breed­ing oc­curs in the warm, wet sum­mer months from Au­gust to Jan­u­ary, when there are a large num­ber of in­sects. Cap­tive fe­males first give birth at about 1 year of age. Fe­males are polye­strous and are able to have two or three lit­ters a year. There are usu­ally 1 to 4 young in a lit­ter. Moth­ers have six nip­ples to feed their young.

Young civets are born in ad­vanced stages rel­a­tive to most car­ni­vores. They are fully furred, al­though the fur is darker, shorter, and softer than adult fur. Their mark­ings are more poorly de­fined than those of adults. Young are able to crawl at birth, and the hind legs sup­port the body by the 5th day. They start leav­ing the nest be­tween 17-18 days, and the first sign of play be­hav­ior is seen at about 2 weeks. The young are com­pletely de­pen­dent on mother's milk for about 6 weeks. After about 42 days, their mother pro­vides them solid food. By the sec­ond month, they are catch­ing food for them­selves. The be­hav­ior of mouth suck­ling, in which the young licks their mother's mouth and drink her saliva, is seen just be­fore the mother be­gins to pro­vide the young with solid food.

The mother trans­ports the young in her mouth, clasp­ing them by the back or by the neck. Cap­tive moth­ers some­times kill and de­vour their young at birth. (An­i­mal Breeder 1999, Ray 1995, Schlie­mann 1990)

  • Key Reproductive Features
  • gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate)
  • sexual
  • Average number of offspring
    2.5
    AnAge
  • Average gestation period
    65 days
    AnAge
  • Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female)
    Sex: female
    365 days
    AnAge
  • Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male)
    Sex: male
    213 days
    AnAge

Lifes­pan/Longevity

Be­hav­ior

These civets are pre­dom­i­nately noc­tur­nal, but they are some­times seen in the morn­ing or af­ter­noon on cloudy days. The peak ac­tiv­ity oc­curs 1-2 hours be­fore sun­set until about mid­night. There is an in­creased ten­dency for both sexes to move around when sex­u­ally ac­tive. The African civet sleeps in the dense grass of thick­ets dur­ing the day, and only moth­ers with young have a nest. This nest is lo­cated in holes made by other an­i­mals or under tan­gled roots.

The African civet is soli­tary, ex­cept when breed­ing. Knowl­edge of the habits of the civets is lim­ited be­cause they are noc­tur­nal and have a se­cre­tive life style. Al­though the civet is soli­tary, it has a va­ri­ety of vi­sual, ol­fac­tory, and au­di­tory means of com­mu­ni­ca­tion. They mark their ter­ri­tory by crouch­ing down and press­ing the per­ineal glands against an ob­ject. Fur­ther­more, civets also de­posit their feces in spe­cial piles. These dung piles have in­clude anal gland se­cre­tions that pro­vide an ad­di­tional means to mark their area and pos­si­bly at­tract a part­ner.

The civets make three types of sounds -- a growl, a cough-spit, and a scream -- but the most com­monly heard is the "ha ha ha" used in mak­ing con­tact. (Ray 1995, Schlie­mann 1990, Nowak 1999)

Com­mu­ni­ca­tion and Per­cep­tion

Food Habits

C. civetta is om­niv­o­rous. It con­sumes mainly wild fruit, car­rion, ro­dents, in­sects (crick­ets, grasshop­pers, bee­tles, and ter­mites), eggs, rep­tile, and birds. The African civet is able to eat items that are usu­ally pois­nous or dis­taste­ful to most mam­mals, in­clud­ing the fruit of Sty­ch­nos, mil­li­pedes, and highly-de­cayed car­rion. Civets do not use their paws for catch­ing prey; in­stead, they over­power the prey with their teeth. Civets dis­play var­i­ous hunt­ing be­hav­iors. The prey may be shaken so vi­o­lently that the spinal col­umn is bro­ken or a ro­dent may be bit­ten and thrown around. (An­i­mal Breed­ers 1999, Richard­son and Lev­i­tan 1994, Schlie­mann 1990)

Eco­nomic Im­por­tance for Hu­mans: Pos­i­tive

In the past, the African civets were often kept cru­elly for the se­cre­tions of their per­ineal glands. The se­cre­tion, called civet, when highly di­luted could make a pleas­ant per­fume. For many cen­turies, the civet played an im­por­tant eco­nom­i­cal role in the econ­omy of Eu­rope, North Africa, and near the Mid­dle East. The trade for civet musk has de­creased re­mark­ably. How­ever, in 1988, it was re­ported that over 2,700 cap­tive civets in Ethiopia were pro­duc­ing the musk. The civet musk, mainly ex­ported to France was sell­ing for $438 per kg. (Nowak 1999)

Eco­nomic Im­por­tance for Hu­mans: Neg­a­tive

Civets are a nui­sance to farm­ers be­cause they for­age in the hen­houses and even kill lambs.(Schlie­mann 1990)

Con­ser­va­tion Sta­tus

Con­trib­u­tors

Tuteja Shalu (au­thor), Uni­ver­sity of Michi­gan-Ann Arbor, Phil Myers (ed­i­tor), Mu­seum of Zo­ol­ogy, Uni­ver­sity of Michi­gan-Ann Arbor.

Glossary

Ethiopian

living in sub-Saharan Africa (south of 30 degrees north) and Madagascar.

World Map

bilateral symmetry

having body symmetry such that the animal can be divided in one plane into two mirror-image halves. Animals with bilateral symmetry have dorsal and ventral sides, as well as anterior and posterior ends. Synapomorphy of the Bilateria.

chemical

uses smells or other chemicals to communicate

endothermic

animals that use metabolically generated heat to regulate body temperature independently of ambient temperature. Endothermy is a synapomorphy of the Mammalia, although it may have arisen in a (now extinct) synapsid ancestor; the fossil record does not distinguish these possibilities. Convergent in birds.

forest

forest biomes are dominated by trees, otherwise forest biomes can vary widely in amount of precipitation and seasonality.

motile

having the capacity to move from one place to another.

native range

the area in which the animal is naturally found, the region in which it is endemic.

rainforest

rainforests, both temperate and tropical, are dominated by trees often forming a closed canopy with little light reaching the ground. Epiphytes and climbing plants are also abundant. Precipitation is typically not limiting, but may be somewhat seasonal.

scrub forest

scrub forests develop in areas that experience dry seasons.

sexual

reproduction that includes combining the genetic contribution of two individuals, a male and a female

tactile

uses touch to communicate

tropical savanna and grassland

A terrestrial biome. Savannas are grasslands with scattered individual trees that do not form a closed canopy. Extensive savannas are found in parts of subtropical and tropical Africa and South America, and in Australia.

savanna

A grassland with scattered trees or scattered clumps of trees, a type of community intermediate between grassland and forest. See also Tropical savanna and grassland biome.

temperate grassland

A terrestrial biome found in temperate latitudes (>23.5° N or S latitude). Vegetation is made up mostly of grasses, the height and species diversity of which depend largely on the amount of moisture available. Fire and grazing are important in the long-term maintenance of grasslands.

Ref­er­ences

"An­i­mal Breed­ers Ex­change" (On-line). Ac­cessed Oc­to­ber 13, 1999 at http://​www.​animalbreederex.​com.

Nowak, R. 1999. Walker's Mam­mals of the World. Vol III. Bal­ti­more: Johns Hop­kins Uni­ver­sity Press.

Ray, J. 1995. Civet­tic­tis civetta.. Mam­malian Spe­icies, 488: 1-7.

Richard­son, P., C. Lev­i­tan. 1994. Tol­er­ance of Aard­wolves to De­fense Se­cre­tions of Trin­verviter­mes Triner­voides. Jour­nal of Mam­mal­ogy, 7(1): 84-90.

Schlie­mann, H. 1990. Grz­imek's En­cy­clo­pe­dia of Mam­mals. Vol III.. New York: Mc­Graw-Hill Pub­lish­ing.