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The Malabar Large-spotted Civet (Viverra civettina), also known as just the Malabar Civet, is a civet belonging to the family Viverridae. Once common along the lowland coastal tracts of Western Ghats of Kerala and Karnataka of South India, the species became rare even by the beginning of the 20th century. It is listed as Criticially Endangered by the IUCN.[1] The major threat facing isolated populations that have managed to survive in marginal habitats is changing cash crop practices and accidental hunting with dogs. Called Jawad in Malayalam, the local language of Kerala, the species is reportedly difficult to maintain in captivity for extracting civet, a secretion from anal glands of all civets that is used in oriental medicine and flavouring 'beedis' (local cigarettes). A distinguishing feature of this small dog-sized civet is the presence of a crest of black erectile hair on the back, running from its shoulder to the tip of the tail. It feeds possibly on small mammals, reptiles, amphibians, fishes and birds. Like most species of civets, Malabar civet is terrestrial and nocturnal.
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